Davy Crockett (History Makers Bios)

Grade 2-4-Crockett never wore a coonskin cap and wasn't called "Davy" in his lifetime. These media myths, however, would've probably pleased him because he loved telling tall tales about himself. This series offering, using large type and simple language, does a good job of separating the man from the myth. Touching on his boyhood, the text focuses mostly on his political career. A final chapter revisits his heroic efforts at the Alamo and explains that how he met his death there is shrouded in mystery. Color cartoon illustrations, paintings, modern-day photographs, sidebar stories, and an official government portrait of Crockett fill out the pages. David A. Adler's A Picture Book of Davy Crockett (Holiday, 1996) focuses more on the legend than on the man, and the two books balance one another nicely.
Anne Chapman Callaghan, Racine Public Library, WI
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.