Jean has written several informal historical biographies for 9-12 year olds about the American Revolution in a style that makes distant historical figures seem real and brings their stories to life...
“I realized when I started doing research for my first book that history wasn’t what I’d been taught in school. History is full of gossip; it’s real people and emotion. I kept being surprised by the real people I met in the past. They all had their foibles and idiosyncrasies.”
One way she accomplished such realistic tellings is that she never made up the dialogue. She found actual letters, diaries, and journals of the people she was writing about, using only their own spoken or written words. Her books are very readable and capture young readers' imaginations. She wrote her books like a journalist, explaining "my approach is that of a reporter, trying for a scoop, looking for clues, connecting facts, digging under the surface".
Here are some of our family favorites:
, illustrated by Margo Tomes.
, illustrated by Tommie dePaola.
illustrated by Trina Schart Hyman. 
illustrated by Trina Schart Hyman. 
illustrated by Margaret Tomes.