Author Christy Mihaly (Music and Silence) and artist Marta Sevilla (The Bard and the Book illustrator) address 15 common stories about the birth of the United States in America's Founding Myths, an interactive picture book for middle-grade readers. Mihaly encourages her audience to filter through bias to discover historical truth, noting that "stories become legends or myths that glorify the past" even when they are not true.
The book uses gatefolds to reveal the "truth" (literally) behind the "myth," inviting readers to lift the flaps to discover hidden information. For example, "The Myth of the Boston Tea Party" suggests readers "may have heard that all of the Patriots were in favor of dumping tea into the Boston Harbor." When the gatefold is opened, Mihaly gives both "The True Story" and an explanation of how the myth originated. As readers engage with the content, they encounter thought-provoking questions, such as, "Why do you think Longfellow wrote a poem about only Paul Revere and not the other riders?" and "How do I know what is true?" The topics cover a diverse range of events and people, asking and answering questions about Black Americans, women, and Indigenous people during the revolutionary era, as well as the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution.
Sevilla's humorous illustrations combine with modern and historic images to construct pages full of color, entertaining content, and infographics that enhance the insightful text. The book's back matter includes an explainer on determining truth, a glossary of terms, discussion about the book's creation, and resources for learning more. Mihaly and Sevilla make this complex material alluring amusing, and relevant. --Jen Forbus, freelancer