THE TOWN THAT FOOLED THE BRITISH

The War of 1812—it’s one of those topics many Americans flunk when asked to please explain what it was all about, though they just might get the year it started right. So, as the conflict’s 200th anniversary bears down, readers can thank the Papps for bringing a thoroughly enjoyable fictionalization of a true incident of the war to the shelf. The story concerns the town of St. Michaels, Md., home to shipbuilders who were caught in the sights of the British military. “For weeks, the British had been snaking their way up the Chesapeake harassing villages and burning towns. And now it seemed they had chosen their next target.” Young Henry Middle’s father is in the militia, charged with facing the British troops. Night is falling, rain is lashing and Henry sets out to bring his father two lanterns, which sparks a brainstorm in the commander of the militia that saves the town from bombardment. The Papps have created good atmosphere: chaos and foreboding, the skies lowering, the British warships ghosting through the night. The artwork is highly heroic, the characters radiating auras as if they’d been stung by St. Elmo’s fire. Readers might wish that the endnote more thoroughly explored the origins of the war. Still, this can't help but expand readers’ understanding of our second war of independence. (Picture book. 6-10)