The Hatmaker's Sign

We've just begun reading "The Hatmaker's Sign A Story by Benjamin Franklin" Retold by Candace Fleming and Illustrated by Robert Andrew Parker. It tells of Thomas Jefferson's struggles in writing the Declaration of Independence and the revisions that the Colonial Congress wanted to make. Benjamin Franklin tells the story of a Hatmaker's difficulty in making a sign for his store as a form of reassurance to Tom. At the conclusion of the story, Benjamin Franklin says "So you see, Tom, no matter what you write, or how well you write it, if the public is going to read it, you can be sure they will want to change it."

When I went to the local library, I was pleased with the number of things I could find about the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, the original 13 colonies. The boys and I watch a video today "Great Americans for Children, Benjamin Franklin". It was well done, with kids asking questions of "teacher". We also picked one up for Thomas Jefferson, as well. There are 12 DVD's in the whole series, on a number of different people or times in history. Here's a link to the web page.

It should be a good series for the boys, they already seem to be enjoying it.