Betsy Ross: Designer of Our Flag

by Ann Weil

Illustrated by Al Fiorentino

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1. Religious/ Secular Content: Christian, Quaker          
 2. Adult Content: NO
 3. Mature Topics: YES
 4. Strong/ Inappropriate Language: NO                                             
 5. Magic/ Witchcraft: NO
 6. Disrespect/ Rebellion: YES
 7. Drug/ Alcohol Use: NO
 8. Violence/ Abuse: NO
 9. Educational Value: YES
10. Positive/ Negative Messages: Positive 
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I have to say, I loved this book! I was pre-reading this book for my daughter, and I got hooked. I had to read every word! lol
This book is part of the Childhood of Famous American's series.
This book basically describes Betsy Ross' childhood, and then in the last chapter it describes a little of her adult life, and how she came to make the flag. 
There was so much in this book that I never knew about her life and family.
As I was reading through this book, I thought that if the whole series was this good, I wanted them all!
It is rare to find a good book with nothing inappropriate in it. 
This book is nearly perfect as far as that goes except that there was one thing that bothered me. 
In one part of this book, Betsy and her friend are down at the docks, and a young boy tries to talk to them. 
At first Betsy won't even look at him, and she is thinking  to herself, that her parents told her not to talk to boys she didn't know, and that she should just ignore him. 
She does this for a little while, but then, she eventually talks to him, knowing that her parents would be upset if she did. 
Actually, she even goes with him on a boat, knowing that she should not, and that she would be going against her parents. 
In the book they never say whether or not her parents found out about it, or if she was given any correction.
Now, other than this one thing, this was such a great book! 
For me, I will still let my kids read this book, and use this as a learning tool. I may ask them to point out to me whether or not they found anything in the book that they thought wasn't right, and talk to them about what could happen today, if they went off with a stranger.
In the last chapter, it tells that Betsy's Husband died in a building that exploded.  It does not go into any great detail about it however. It should be OK for most ages, but if you have a younger one that you are reading to, you may just want to skip that sentence. 
This book was very good and I loved how it incorporated other aspects of history into it as well. Your kids will actually remember these history details, the way this book presents them.
Based off of this book, I would definitely check out the rest of the series!