Baby of the Alamo - Susan Hood

Hood, Susan.  Sandy Kossin, illustrator.  The Baby of the Alamo.  Leveled Books Series.  New York:  McGraw-Hill School Division, 1999.  16 p.; ISBN 0-02-185295-2.  Available in Braille.

Publisher's recommendation:  Grade 5, Unit 3.

            This novel is told from the point of view of Angelina Dickinson, who survived the battle of the Alamo with her mother, Susanna.  As the book begins, Angelina says that she, as a fifteen-month old baby, can remember the " nice man who gave me a ring with a cat's eye stone."  She relates the rest of the traditional Alamo story in a question and answer discussion with her mother.  The book is illustrated with colorful, cartoon-like drawings.  The inside back cover has five "Story Questions and Activities," and an assignment for writing an autobiographical paragraph.  This simplistic (and probably unrealistic) presentation of the Alamo story is unlikely to hold the attention of the intended Grade 5 audience. [Courtesy: Lucie Olson's The Alamo and the Texas Revolution, An Annotated Bibliography. DRT Alamo Library, 2004.] 

Other info:  Accelerated Reader Quiz Level is 5.2