Paul Revere

David A. Adler’s A Picture Book of Paul Revere (Holiday House, 1997) is a simple picture-book introduction to Revere’s life for ages 5-8.

Jonah Winters’s Paul Revere and the Bell Ringers (Simon Spotlight, 2003) in the Ready-to-Read series is a simple large-print account of how Paul Revere, as a boy in Boston, started a bell-ringing club. For ages 5-7.

Lane Smith’s delightfully clever John, Paul, George, & Ben (Disney Hyperion, 2006) is the tongue-in-cheek picture-book story of John Hancock (“a bold lad”), Paul Revere (“a noisy lad”), George Washington (“an honest lad”), and Ben Franklin (“a clever lad”) - plus “Independent Tom” Jefferson. A helpful appendix is titled “Taking Liberties: Wherein we set the record straight with ye olde True or False section.” For ages 5-9.

Dennis Brindell Fradin’s Let It Begin Here! (Walker Children’s Books, 2009) is the story of the Battle of Lexington and Concord, beginning with Paul Revere’s famous midnight ride. Included are an hour-by-hour timetable of the battle (“9:30 PM: Paul Revere learns the British army is marching…”), a list of Who’s Who on both sides, and a map. For ages 6-9.

Augusta Stevenson’s Paul Revere: Boston Patriot (Aladdin, 1986) – one of the red-white-and-blue-covered Childhood of Famous Americans series – is a fictionalized account of Paul Revere’s childhood through his teen years when he began carrying secret messages for Boston’s pro-Revolution activists. For ages 7-9.

By the wonderful Jean Fritz, And Then What Happened, Paul Revere? (Puffin, 1996) is a superb biography, fill with human interest and real people – in short, history as it ought to be told. For ages 7-10.

Roberta Edwards’s 112-page Who Was Paul Revere? (Grosset & Dunlap, 2011) is a short chapter biography that begins with Paul’s first plunge into business – as a boy, he and three friends became paid bell-ringers for Boston’s Old North Church. For ages 7-10.

James Cross Giblin’s The Many Rides of Paul Revere (Scholastic, 2007) is a well-researched biography, illustrated with period prints, paintings, maps and documents, and photos of artifacts. The book begins with Paul’s childhood – he was the son of a French immigrant, Apollos Rivoire – and continues through his multifaceted career as a silversmith and his involvement in the Revolution (during which he made not just one, but many, rides. For ages 8-12.

By Jeff Lantos, Why Longfellow Lied (Charlesbridge, 2021) explains what really happened on that crucial night, illustrated with maps, photos, and fascinating fact boxes. For ages 9-12.

By Esther Forbes, Paul Revere and the World He Lived In (Mariner Books, 1999) is an engrossing account of the life and times of Paul Revere, packed with fascinating details. Originally published in 1942, when it won a Pulitzer Prize. Highly recommended for teens and adults.

By historian David Hackett Fischer, Paul Revere’s Ride (Oxford University Press, 1995) is a truly fascinating account of pre-Revolutionary Boston and the events surrounding Revere’s famous ride. (Nobody yelled “The British are coming!”) For teenagers and adults.

Robert Lawson’s Mr. Revere and I (Little, Brown, 1988) is a delightful “Account of certain Episodes in the Career of Paul Revere, Esq., as revealed by his horse, Scheherazade" (Sherry) – once the pride of the Queen’s Own Household Cavalry and a thorough-going Tory. Sherry is shipped to the American colonies (populated by bumpkins), where his owner loses him in a game of dice to the owner of a glue factory. From there, he’s rescued by Sam Adams and ends up carrying Paul Revere on his famous ride. A great read for ages 7-11.

Esther Forbes’s Newbery winner Johnny Tremain (Clarion, 2011) – originally published in 1944 – is the story of a 14-year-old silversmith’s apprentice, maimed in an accident, who then becomes involved in the American Revolution, meeting such luminaries as Sam Adams, John Hancock, and Paul Revere. An exciting read for ages 9-12.

The 1957 Disney film version of Johnny Tremain is 80 minutes long and rated “Approved.”

By master historical fiction writer Ann Rinaldi, The Secret of Sarah Revere (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2003) is the story of Paul Revere and his times through the eyes of Revere’s 13-year-old daughter Sarah. A mix of the historical and the personal, as Sarah deals with growing up and worries that her father’s friend, Dr. Joseph Warren, has too much interest in her stepmother, Rachel. For ages 12 and up.

This version of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s poem Paul Revere’s Ride (Puffin, 1995) is illustrated with moonlit paintings by Ted Rand. (“Listen, my children and you shall hear/Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere.”) All ages.

Creatively illustrated by Caldecott Honor winner Christopher Bing, Longfellow’s The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere (Chronicle Books, 2001) combines the famous poem with historical context: included are reproductions of historical documents, letters, and maps, images of colonial artifacts, and drawings that look like period engravings. For ages 8 and up.

Paul Revere wasn’t the only rider. Marsha Amstel’s Sybil Ludington’s Midnight Ride (First Avenue Editions, 2000) is the story of 16-year-old Sybil’s ride to warn the American troops of an attack by the British on Danbury, CT. For ages 7-9.

Other options include E.F. Abbott's Sybil Ludington: Revolutionary War Rider (Square Fish, 2017) for ages 8-12; and Jessica Gunderson's graphic novel Sybil Ludington Rides to the Rescue (Capstone, 2020).

The website of the Paul Revere House has a virtual tour of the route Revere took on his famous ride, a Revere biography, and a gallery of Revere-made silver. Click on “For the Kids” for lists of activities, games, articles, and books for children.

From Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts, John Singleton Copley’s portrait of Paul Revere shows Revere as an artisan, holding a silver teapot. Zoom features allow visitors to get a closer look at the picture.

2 If By Sea Lanterns has instructions for making papercraft tissue-paper window lanterns to accompany books about Paul Revere’s ride.