Title: The John Hancock Club
Author: Louise Borden
Major Themes: Cursive, Handwriting, School, John Hancock, Picture Books, American Revolution
Synopsis: The third-graders were about to learn cursive—could Sean learn it well enough to be inducted into the John Hancock Club?
When we were studying John Hancock, on our trip through the American Revolution, I happened upon a book titled The John Hancock Club. Of course, I borrowed it from the library—what an intriguing title! It turned out to be a very fun story.
Sean McFerris was going into third grade now. The third graders were going to be learning cursive writing—but he was afraid he wouldn’t be able to. It looked so hard! The class began the year working on easier things, which Sean enjoyed. Then, one day, Mrs. Tovani announced that her class would begin to learn to write in cursive! She hoped all the children would learn to write very well, so they could be inducted into the John Hancock club.
Who was John Hancock? All the third-graders wanted to know. Mrs. Tovani did not tell them right away, but she continued to teach them to write in cursive. Could Sean learn it? He kept working at it. When he finally learned who John Hancock was, he badly wanted to be inducted into his club! Could he write well enough?
The John Hancock Club is a delightful way of introducing cursive handwriting. It also introduces one of the famous figures from the American Revolution! It’s also simply a very fun story. The pictures are fun, too. They feature children from many different ethnic groups, having fun learning together in their classroom. We got this book from the library, but if I were to find a used copy, I would snatch it up.
No warnings!
Age levels:
Listening Level—Ages 5 – 8
Reading Independently—Ages 7 – 9
Links to buy this book:
Amazon: Hardcover
AbeBooks: View Choices on AbeBooks.com
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