The Winter of Red Snow: The Revolutionary War Diary of Abigail Jane Stewart, Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, 1777 (Dear America)

A first-hand account of living through the winter of 1777, during the revolutionary war, by a young girl who ends up doing laundry for General Washington. A good read.

This was a good read. I just got done teaching the begining of the revolutionary war to fifth graders and I think reading some journals out of the book to the class would wonderful. I remember pretending to be someone who lived during the time of the war when I was in school and writing journals of

Show More

our experience there. I think readin some of the book before assigning an assignment like this would be great.

Show Less

This was a very intriguing series book. It was written in diary entry form. It really made you feel as if you were experiencing the life of Abigail Stewart during the Revolutionary war.

This story takes place during the Revolutionary War. It is the journal of Abigail Jane Stewart. She tells of life in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania in 1777. She tells of the horrible conditions that the men fighting for our freedom had to live in. Most of the men didn't even have shoes or the right

Show More

clothing to survive during the winter. Abigail, her mother and sister did the laundry of General George Washington every week. Her father spent all of his time making shoes for the soldiers.
I have not really read much about the Revolutionary War other than in history classes. I found it very interesting to read about life back then. I think children will be thankful after reading this book for the modern life we have now. I certainly was.
In the classroom, we would discuss how it was important for our history that the United States stood up to England. I would then divide them up into sections and give them a specfic job to do like washing laundry, making shoes, or making clothing. They would discuss in their sections what all was needed to perform their job. As a section, they would get up in front of the class and tell how they would perform this job. I would be interested to see how imagitive they could get.

Show Less

This is the best book to share with students during a study of the American Revolution. It discusses so much of what is actually happening during the war. I love how factual it is. I like that it is written in diary format. Great supplement during the American Revolution study, it reinforces

Show More

everything the kids are learning!

Show Less

This is a story about a girl who is going through the revolutionary war with her family. Her brother and father end up going to war. I recommend this book to young girls that can handle reading a little bit about sadness, because this story is sad. I also recommend this book to teachers. I would

Show More

definitely read this book to the girls in my classroom when i become a teacher.

Show Less

this is a great fictional story of what it was like to be in the revolutionary war time, I myself am a DAR and found this very interesting about the goings on what it would have been like to support the war. started at 5 pm on 1st day and read till 1am on second day.

This book is appropriate for for grades 5th-6th. This is a longer chapter book that has accelerated words. This book is written as a dairy, who belong to a 11 year old girl named Abigail Jane Stewart, in 1777 in Valley Forge, PA. The Revolutionary War remains marched though Abigail's town, never

Show More

has she seen young boys and men in the condition they were on the freezing morning in December. Abby writes down the words of Washington and goes on the a trip with Martha to go visit the sick soldiers. Lots of event happen in Valley Forge when General Washington is there with soldiers. Abby and her sisters follow them around and Martha saves them goodies from parties. This book will give students and inside view what it was like for a children to grow up during this time period.
Teachers could use this book to:
-Use the book as a mock and have students make their own journals. Students would have to write about the past and what they would do during this time period.
-Have students pick out vocabulary in the book and write them down. Have them use these words in the weekly spelling list.

Show Less

Summary: In this book, Abigail Jane Stewart's life is turned upside down when General George Washington and his soldiers come to Valley Forge. Abigail's family tries to help Washington in any way they can even though they are barley scrapping by. This story depicts how hard it was for the men who

Show More

had little food and clothing to help them survive the winter and how hard Abigail and her family tried to help them; she would visit them and sew clothes for them. The family also did Washington's laundry. However, even though Abigail tended to Washington and grew through helping them, she still had concerns for her own family and was worried about losing her baby brother to the cold winter hardships. Through this story, the reader sees how Abigail grows and matures and learns how to put others before herself.

Review: I thought this book was a great read; it told a very realistic story about how hard it was to live back during this time period. It also showed how hard it was for the soldiers, who didn't have much to survive off of. The main message I learned through this book was to put others before yourself and to learn how to be compassionate. Throughout this book, Abigail was putting the needs of the soldier's in front of her own and she was even helping her mom out. She learned that war is to not be taken lightly and to show compassion to others in need. I thought this book was great because it allows the reader to reflect on Abigail's decisions, for example one of her friends, Lucy, ran away from home and Abigail received a note from Lucy telling her where she was but to not tell anyone. Abigail was torn on whether or not to tell that she knew where Lucy was and ended up keeping it to herself for a while. I thought this story was a great way to explore what it was like during this time and to show how important it is to help others.

Show Less

I don't remember much of these books as individual books, but I remember reading them all as a young, avid reader. I think that ultimately these books are the reason why I love historical fiction novels so much. They all did such a great job of taking me to a different time and place and making it

Show More

come alive, seeing the world through an older, historical lens. I highly recommend any of the Dear America books to younger readers who love history and need to get hooked on reading!

Show Less