The Children’s Book Review | November 25, 2017
How the Sheep Helped Win the War
Written by Joyce Covey and Farron Smith
Age Range: 4 and up
Hardcover: 38 pages
Publisher: MASCOT Book Publishing Company
ISBN: 978-1-63177-889-6
What to expect: History, Sheep, Presidents, First Ladies
This fabulously historical and funny book tells the amazing tale of how sheep helped First Lady Mrs. Wilson win World War I.
Narrated by Woolie Wythe, the talking cartoon sheep, we learn about Edith Bolling Wilson and how she grew up learning to knit and sew. It helped prepare her for her role as First Lady, because when World War I broke out, there was a terrible shortage of uniforms and textiles. Mrs. Wilson bought herself a sewing machine and started sewing things to send to the Red Cross, which then made it to the soldiers who so desperately needed uniforms. In addition, she and President Wilson brought sheep to live on the white house lawn. Woolie Wythe explains the many reasons why this was a great idea. First, it helped cut down on labor required to maintain the lawn (those sheep certainly can munch a lot of grass!). Second, their wool was sheered and auctioned off, raising more than $100,000 for donation to the Red Cross.
Filled with actual pictures of the white house lawn covered in sheep, as well as unique and interesting pictures of President Wilson and the First Lady, this book does a great job of spanning the historical and the entertaining. Wooly Wythe is adorable and fun, leading children on a journey through history. The facts are easy to understand and the story-line is well written. Parents who fancy themselves history buffs will be delighted to receive this as a gift for their children, and it would make a great addition to any school library.
Highly recommended.
Available Here:
About the Author
Joyce Covey’s journey to co-author How the SHEEP Helped Win the War began with a desire to provide young students a visual to improve their understanding of a World War I history concept that she taught as an elementary school teacher. Joyce is a graduate of Radford College and a long serving member of Alpha Delta Kappa, an international honorary sorority for women educators. A retired teacher with over thirty-five years of teaching experience, Joyce resides in Pulaski, Virginia, with her husband M.G. She hopes that young readers will find this book enjoyable and perhaps excite the budding history scholar! As founder of the Edith Bolling Wilson Birthplace Foundation, Farron Smith is dedicated to preserving the only birthplace home museum of a First Lady in Virginia. After graduating from Radford College, she and her husband Bill moved to Wytheville, Virginia, where her career path has taken many different roads. Farron is most proud of her contributions sharing the story of a little girl from Wytheville, Virginia, who grew up to become First Lady of the United States. How the SHEEP Helped Win the War is informative, educational, and will spark the imagination of children of all ages adults will love it too!
How the Sheep Helped Win the War, by Joyce Covey and Farron Smith, was reviewed by Denise Mealy. Discover more books like How the Sheep Helped Win the War by following along with our reviews and articles tagged with American History, American Presidents, Books About First Ladies, and Sheep.
