Ken Marantz and Sylvia Marantz (Children's Literature)
Smith has his fun with five icons of American history: Washington, Hancock, Franklin, Jefferson, and Paul Revere. Taking his liberties with the facts, he invents some outrageous tales and relates them to actual historic truths, which he does clarify at the end. The Revere Shop sold silver, not underwear, for example. “But extra-large underwear is always funnier.” The apocryphal story of Washington and the cherry tree is ridiculously expanded. Franklin’s clever sayings finally cause the townspeople to ask him, “Please shut your big yap!” Young Jefferson pushes “Liberty” a bit too hard in school. Smith offers a detailed description of the many techniques he uses, in addition to pen-and-ink, to supply appropriate anecdotal detail in a style that suggests the 18th century but is, of course, his very own comic impression of history. He adds visual potency to parts of the text: for example, the words of Revere’s warning that the redcoats are coming expand across to cover half of the double page. Each section is headed by a small portrait based on a historic painting, which is included at the end with the historic record. He also sets the record straight with “ye olde True or False section.” As long as young readers do not take this almost sacrilegious humor too seriously, it can be enjoyed by all. 2006, Hyperion Books for Children, $16.99. Ages 5 to 9.

Joan Kindig, Ph.D. (Children's Literature)
The Founding Fathers were wee lads once upon a time and by sharing tales from their youth, Lane Smith makes history more fascinating than one can imagine. Paul Revere was not born with that booming voice, you know. John Hancock’s superb penmanship became obvious in grade school. And young Ben Franklin was spouting pithy sayings before he was out of knickers. This book is hilarious from start to finish as it plays with the myths we have about these men. Rest assured, the back matter tells the truth about the stories (“Taking Liberties: Wherein we set the record straight with ye olde True or False section”) so history emerges unscathed. The design of the book is perfection from the flyleaf to the notes at the end. Smith’s use of varied media creates an illusion of a crackled veneer associated with the time period. History should never be dull and, believe me, it is not here. 2006, Hyperion, $16.99. Ages 7 to 10.

CCBC (Cooperative Children’s Book Center Choices, 2007)
Lane Smith’s funny, irreverent, highly unreliable account of several well-known figures in our nation’s struggle for independence from Britain gets an added lift with references to the twentieth-century British invasion involving four lads from Liverpool. John (Hancock), Paul (Revere), George (Washington) and Ben (Franklin), along with Tom (Jefferson), each played a significant role in the founding of America. But what about their formative years? Smith turns the facts upside down and inside out, fabricating a series of hilarious childhood incidences to underscore the best-known quality of each one’s character (“George was an honest lad . . . Ben was a clever lad . . . Tom was an independent lad.”) From Paul Revere’s youthful job selling underwear to John Hancock’s confident blackboard scrawl, the facts are few and far between but the humor is abundant. Smith clears up any misconceptions in a final section called “Taking Liberties: Wherein we set the record straight with ye olde True or False section.” CCBC Category: Picture Books for School-Aged Children. 2006, Hyperion, 40 pages, $16.99. Age 7 and older.

Kirkus (Kirkus Reviews, March 15, 2006 (Vol. 74, No. 6))
Despite the Beatles-reminiscent title, this offering concerns itself with not four, but five of the Founding Dads: John (Hancock), Paul (Revere), George (Washington), Ben (Franklin) and Tom (Jefferson). Each is imagined in his youth, identified by one characteristic that becomes key to his involvement in the American Revolution. John is bold, writing his name large on the blackboard; Paul is noisy, bellowing out customers' orders in his family's shop; George is honest, confessing to the chopping down of not only the cherry tree, but the whole orchard; Ben is clever, sharing his aphorisms with all who will listen; and Tom is independent, making a model of Monticello instead of a birdhouse out of "ye olde balsa wood." Smith's faux-antiqued illustrations deliver bucket-loads of zany energy, but his text lacks his sometime partner Jon Scieszka's focus. While there is a hallowed place for irreverence in children's literature, one might wish for a work that more evenly balances humor with substance. Still, this may serve as an entry point for kids who think that history is dry as dust, and "Ye Olde True or False Section" really is pretty funny. 2006, Hyperion, 40p, $16.99. Category: Picture book. Ages 5 to 9. © 2006 Kirkus Reviews/VNU eMedia, Inc. All rights reserved.

Barbara B. Feehrer (Library Media Connection, August/September 2006)
This entertaining book tells tales about five U.S. Founding Fathers (John Hancock, Paul Revere, George Washington, Ben Franklin and Thomas Jefferson) when they were young boys. For example, Smith shows how large John Hancock wrote his name on the classroom chalkboard, and how Paul Revere's bell ringing caused him to speak very loudly. Outrageous humor and language are typical of this author's books and some of the jokes do require prior knowledge of the history involved in order to fully appreciate the humor. Interesting cartoon-style illustrations, done in pen & ink on a variety of textures, make the book lots of fun. Collages are facsimiles of 18th century material and many details help support the text. The mini-portraits of the young heroes are done in oil and are modeled after the famous portraits of the grown-up characters, reproduced near the end of the book. The "Taking Liberties" page at the end of the book is a creative way to help readers understand the difference between the facts and fictions in the book. Statements are made and then a true/false verdict is rendered...in the interest of historical accuracy! Recommended. 2006, Hyperion Books for Children/Disney Publishing Worldwide, 40pp., $17 hc. Ages 5 up.

Elizabeth Bush, Reviewer (The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, May 2006 (Vol. 59, No. 9))
Many a biographer has combed the childhood of his subject in search of early promise of greatness to come, and now Lane Smith definitively identifies those attributes of our Founding Fathers that allowed them to fashion this august nation. John Hancock’s bold manuscript may have annoyed his teacher (“John, c’mon . . . we don’t need to read it from space!”), but it would later enable him to defy King George with his signature. Paul Revere’s bell-ringing hobby rendered him so hearing-impaired that he spoke at the top of his lungs--a problem as a shopkeeper (“EXTRA-LARGE UNDERWEAR? HERE THEY ARE!GREAT, BIG, EXTRA-LARGE UNDERWEAR!”), but an asset for alerting citizens to approaching Redcoats. George Washington’s fabled honesty (he admitted to the destruction of an orchard, a barn, and a carriage as well as a cherry tree) made him the ideal candidate for first president. Ben Franklin’s proclivity for dispensing clever advice earned him a loud “Please shut your big yap!” but would come in mighty handy convincing others to unite for independence. Thomas Jefferson’s independent spirit made him the classroom pariah as he rewrote his master’s lesson plans, a trial run in preparation for separating from the king. Smith out-legends the legends with his broad parodies of early adulatory histories, and his visual play on colonial artwork is pretty darn clever as well. Pen, ink, oils on canvas, parchments, weathered boards, and period font all contribute to the antique look, and the little founders’ caricatures are unmistakably based on well-known paintings--right down to poor Ben’s receding hairline. Readers in the know will enjoy searching out more subtle references, such as a broad grin that betrays Washington’s coming dental issues and classmates’ blackboard scrawl that presages the signatures on the Declaration of Independence. A closing page “Wherein we set the record straight with ye olde True and False section” puts everything back into context, but still works in a few parting jibes: “This [cherry tree] fable was invented by Mason ‘Parson’ Weems. . . . Pretty funny, considering he made up ye olde tale to teach kids a lesson in honesty.” A history review with underwear jokes--how can you beat that? Review Code: R* -- Denotes books of special distinction. (c) Copyright 2006, The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois. 2006, Hyperion, 40p, $16.99. Grades 3-5.

Horn Book (The Horn Book Guide, Fall 2006)
With humor both broad and sly, Smith introduces the titular fab four (Hancock, Revere, Washington, and Franklin) as well as a fifth lad from the colonies, Tom (Jefferson), by defining each through a single trait and reinforcing that attribute with both historical references and funny fictional events. Back matter (titled "Taking Liberties") informs readers what's true and false in the book. Category: Nonfiction-History. 2006, Hyperion, 40pp, 16.99. Ages 5 to 9. Rating: 2: Superior, well above average.