Young John Quincy

As she did in Three Young Pilgrims , Harness here relies as much on her ample storytelling skills as on her impressive artistic abilities to tell this edifying story of John Quincy Adams's early years. The narrative opens in the spring of 1775, as eight-year-old Johnny helps with the chores in his family's Massachusetts farmhouse while his father attends the Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia. The author chronicles the boy's home life, alluding to the historical events leading up to the outbreak of the American Revolution. The highlights of the war are then accessibly recapped with the help of paintings and illustrated maps embellished with painstakingly lettered notations about key incidents and individuals. Completing the volume, a brief account of Adams's adult years mentions his tour as a diplomat, his single term as the sixth president and his service in the House of Representatives until his death in 1848. Ages 5-10. ( Mar. )