Teach kids history with ‘Charley Waters’

CHARLEY WATERS GOES TO GETTYSBURG, written by Susan Sinnott, photographs by Dorothy Handelman, The Millbrook Press, Brookfield, Conn., 2000, 48 pages, $22.90.

Teachers tell us that hands-on, meaningful activities are the best way to engage our sons and daughters in learning. We can study fractions in the kitchen by whipping up a batch of chocolate chip cookies. We can enhance a youngster’s map skills by enlisting the child to plan the route for a family trip. But how do we make history come alive?

Susan Sinnott’s “Charley Waters goes to Gettysburg” shows us one great way.

Sinnott’s fictionalized account is based on modern-day re-enactors, people who act out historical events. Sinnott and photographer Dorothy Handelman worked with the father and son team of Ryan and John Kopich as they tried to illustrate what re-enacting is all about.

In the book, Charley is a very appealing 8-year-old who plays soccer, squabbles with his sister and isn’t too crazy about cleaning his room in his “normal” life. In his other life, he follows orders promptly, never needing to be told something twice.

He and his father are Civil War re-enactors. They travel to famous battle sites to help re-create battle simulations of the war between the Confederate Army and the Union Army.

In this book, on the 135th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg, they help to re-enact Pickett’s Charge. In addition to their war gear, Charley and his dad also bring with them something very important – their regimental colors. The green flag with a gold harp proclaims their membership in the 69th Pennsylvania. This regiment was famous for its bravery and hard fighting.

More than 30,000 people from all over the United States and other countries have gathered for this re-enactment. Clothing, tents, foods and methods of preparing them, and even recreation, are authentically patterned after the 1860s.

Sinnott’s lively text, which seems to beautifully capture the thoughts of a young boy, and Handelman’s vivid color photographs, combine to make “Charley Waters goes to Gettysburg” a real gem for family reading.

In a telephone chat from her Eliot home, Sinnott revealed that her inspiration for creating the book was her own son’s involvement with his father in Civil War re-enactments. They had seen a poster for a local group and started participating in events. The whole family attended the larger ones.

Sinnott was taken with the youngsters she met, their knowledge of history and their genuine commitment to the authenticity of the experience. She never saw a Game Boy pulled out. This gave her a real sense of time travel. “I started to see what living then was really like, the way war is not glamorous or fun.”

Knowing that she was going to attend a re-enactment of Confederate Army Gen. George Pickett’s famous charge, Sinnott, a free-lance writer, decided that she would create a children’s book while she was there. It turned out to be a lot more work than she’d expected. She and Handelman were fortunate to find a clean-cut, charming boy just the right age, with a father involved in re-enacting. They allowed numerous photographs, and helped the author and photographer understand what was important.

But the scope and speed of the action – especially during battles – made it difficult to keep track of everything. And Handelman had to go home to her new baby before she could record a large battle scene. Sinnott was helped by an amateur photographer whose work she used in the book.

Sinnott would like readers to gain the sense that re-enactment is something fun that children do with their families, and a great way to learn history by immersion. She urges families who are intrigued by the book to locate a local unit.

If you’d enjoy going back in time without signing up for war, try our own Leonard’s Mills, in Bradley. They need families to carry out the chores and crafts of a 1790s logging and milling community during living history days held periodically throughout the year. Check this newspaper for notices of the next scheduled event.