While the book provides some nice historical details, its attempt at presenting the voices of the Colonial period reads more like a contrived vehicle of those historical details than a true presentation of the people of the time. I enjoyed the history, but after reading Schlitz's Good Masters, Sweet Ladies---where distinct character voices blend poignancy, humor, and layers of flavor and texture into the author's overall portrait of the Middle Ages---I wanted to hear and feel the verse rather than just read through it. ( )

Ethan, the printer’s errand boy, is delivering messages to different townspeople in Colonial Boston. Each message takes the reader on a historical journey to learn about different colonial occupations. It also highlights the different views both Patriots and Loyalists had towards England and the Tea Act during this time. This would be a wonderful book for children to read before learning about the Boston Tea Party. The format of the book is such a clever and fun way to engage children in learning about history. ( )

he delivers messages to Boston townspeople, each person begins to speak to him in poetic prose. Ethan encounters several different persons found in the Colonial town of Boston on the day of the Boston Tea Party. The colonists explain their life of hard work and their attitude of living under British rule. Ethan, the printer's errand boy, is running through town to deliver a message about a patriotic meeting. The Tavern owner, the Blacksmith, the Butcher, and the widow explain to this orphan boy the reasons for their attitudes on the Day of The Boston Tea Party. Ethan, expresses the sights and sounds of that day as he is fulfilling his tasks. Ethan ends up at the harbor and watches the Patriots throw the Tea into the water. K Winter’s wrote this for children seven and up. Colonial Voices is a book I would use for secondary students to create a project about The Boston Tea Party. I would have my high school students research the accuracy of the architecture and costume of these characters. The students could also choose to find such printed messages on line and share them with the class. They could add characters for Ethan to speak to. for example, a British Loyalist whose income is made from bringing the tea into the harbor and his tasks on that day. The colorful compilation of characters and beautiful illustrations can be used for a variety of projects to describe Colonial Times ( )

http://www.econedlink.org/teacher-lesson/911/ (lesson for oppurtunity cost)
http://c.ymcdn.com/sites/www.ilfonline.org/resource/resmgr/2011-12_yhba_resource... (disscusion and history lesson)

I highly enjoyed reading this book for multiple reasons. The author, Kay Winters, tells fictional stories of many different people in Boston, MA on the day of the Boston Tea Party. While reading, you are able to get a look into the life of people such as a Native American, a school teacher, a slave, and many others. An impactful line in the book was when the errand boy brought a message to the Blacksmith who owned a slave; the slave said "Freedom for them, but not for me". Larry Day, the illustrator, made it so that the text appears on half of the page which resembles a newspaper and the other part of the page is a picture of the place where the errand boy goes. This type of illustration gave the book an older feel, which I liked since the book was based in Colonial times. I do not believe that there is one strong message in this book, just that the day of the Boston Tea Party was a very influential day in Colonial America. ( )