Becky DanielCritiques

Independent Reading Level: 1st Grade

Betsy Ross is a story about Betsy Ross the women who made the American Flag. The story has a few words on each page with description of what she was doing and in the end it shows that she made the American Flag. At the end of the story there is an activity to make your own Betsy Ross star.

I liked this story. thought it was great for really young children, it was short and simple to the point. As you are reading this story with children you can ask them questions along the way to have them figure out what she is making.

In the classroom I would read this story around the fourth of July. We would make Our own flags and practice patterns. We would also practice counting and count the stars.

In my opinion this is a great book. I liked this book for two reasons: the writing and the illustrations. The writing of this book is very engaging and has a nice flow. Each page has very little words; however, the words all flow nicely and the style of writing is repetitive. For example, “Thirteen stars. Zip, zip. Betsy dipped. Dip, dip. Indigo dye. Drip, drip.” This series of words flow together and are repetitive rhyming words, which makes the story engaging. Another reason why I liked this book was because of the illustrations. I feel as if the illustrations really enhance the story. Each page includes an illustration of what Betsy Ross is doing. The very last page of the book shows an illustration of the American flag. When readers get to the end to see the American flag, they will understand that the whole book is about the steps Betsy Ross completed to create our American flag. The big idea of the book is to describe to readers the work that was put in to create the American flag, and also who created it.

I had mixed feelings about this book after reading it. I liked this book because the writing is well paced and rhymes. The best example of this is when you read, “Betsy snipped. Snip, snip”, on the first page and then moving to the next page you read, “Thirteen stars. Zip, zip.” The flow helped with a fluent reading of the book by the reader. The language was also very descriptive, using words like “crimson strips” to describe the stripes on the flag. I did not like this book because it lacks a plot or a way to draw the reader in. There is no universal message, but in the back of the book there are directions to inform the reader about how to make their own Betsy Ross star.

Great rhyming text and wonderful illustrations.