Big Bad Ironclad! (Nathan Hale's Hazardous Tales #2): A Civil War Tale

Nathan Hale has been a favorite local (Utah) author and artist for several years now. I first met him at a booksigning in suburban Salt Lake City, and casually followed what he was working on since then. Up until 2012 the highlight of his career has been the two graphic novels written by Shannon Hale (no relation): "Rapunzel's Revenge" and "Calamity Jack." Both are very entertaining takes on fairy tales, both come highly recommended by me.Hale's own series takes stories from American History and retelling them in a funny and informative way: "Nathan Hale's Hazardous Tales." The first in the series is "One Dead Spy", the account of Nathan Hale's namesake, um, Nathan Hale. The second book, also published in 2012, is "Big Bad Ironclad!" "Big Bad Ironclad" is of course a Civil War tale, about the sea battle between the Monitor and the Virginia (when I was growing up, we called that one the Merrimack), two of the first ironclad ships. The premise of this series is that each story is narrated by heroic spy Nathan Hale, delaying his own execution Sheherezade-style by telling stories from American History to his own Hangman and a British Provost. Hale (the author) plays with the idea of Hale (the spy) as an omniscient historian, who's able to tell stories that haven't happened yet, and he's balanced out by the Hangman, who's brutish but loves cute little animals, and the Provost, who reminds me of a stuffier Sam Eagle from "The Muppet Show." But...British.A brief prologue does a good job of introducing the Civil War, and even though the ironclad battle is really only one small episode within the larger conflict, the book manages to give perspective to the war. We meet Abraham Lincoln and his cabinet, we learn about General Winfield Scott's Anaconda Plan to cut off the South from any outside support, and meet Gideon Welles, Lincoln's "Father Neptune" and Secretary of the Navy. These people put the ironclad plans into motion, and does so in a quick, straightforward way that is easy for kids and teens to get onboard with.The graphic novel format keeps things moving quickly, and lets Hale play with words and images--Gideon Welles' assistant Gustavus Fox is rendered as a cute little fox, and Confederacy naval leader Stephen Mallory is shown as a "sharkface," although Hale does point out that he's not a villain so much as a leader of the opposition.Interspersed with the main story about the building and battle of the Monitor and Virginia is the story of William Cushing--a guy I hadn't ever heard of, but a navy officer who ends up becoming the prototype for Navy SEALS. His adventures punctuate the already exciting war story, and are able to provide a continual thread that gives us insight into the other things that were happening away from the ironclads."Big Bad Ironclad" includes biographies of the major characters in the story (so that kids can find out that Stephen Mallory wasn't really known as "Sharkface"), a bibliography that includes resources on the Ironclads, the Civil War, and some of the major characters in the book; a "Corrections Baby" page that addresses some historical discrepancies, and a Civil War timeline that points out where Will Cushing was at various points in the conflict. One of my favorite "extras" is at the bottom of the timeline, where we're shown how to build our own Monitor from a few "plastic bricks." As a die-hard LEGO fan, I was pleased to see that. This is the second of four "Nathan Hale's Hazardous Tales" books currently in stores, and the fifth is coming this spring. It can't be soon enough.

It is a very creative way to explain the naval battles of the Civil War!

My 10-year-old son has dyslexia and we have battled with reading for years. Once he had his hands on the physical copy of his first Nathan Hale's Hazardous Tales book, he couldn't get enough! He reads them over and over again. We will continue to purchase until we have the whole set! If you have a child who is interested in history, this is the set for you!

My son has loved all books he had read so far from the series. He has learned so much from Ironclad and made a Lego model of one with the suggestion from the book. Great series!

My 8yo son has read each of the NHHT books multiple times. He keeps one with him wherever he goes. They can have themes that may be shocking for some, but those opened good discussions for our family. For example, _The Underground Abductor_ exposes some atrocities of slavery that I wasn't aware of. Our kid asked questions, and we talked them out.If you have a kid who loves learning and humor and you can handle having discussions about hard stuff occasionally, then I highly recommend these books.We have loaned a couple to friends who don't love reading for pleasure, and they also LOVED these books.

My son has read this book and many of Nathan Hale’s Hazardous Tales books over and over.

My 9yr old (was 8 when he started reading this series) LOVES the Hazardous Tales series! He up until these books really wasn’t a reader and getting him to do his reading homework was always a struggle. But these have been great. He flies thru them and then spits all these historical facts at me so I know he is absorbing the content. He has read them all and is eagerly waiting the next to come out. Highly recommend!!!

This series is chock-full of great stories and wonderful history. This isn't a way to trick kids to read history -- it's just good writing, accurate illustrations and a rollicking tale. As author Nathan Hale says, "It's 93% accurate" and I'll add 100% enjoyable. Fourth and fifth graders at my school devour these books, checking out the whole series and then buying them for themselves (Nathan Hale One Dead Spy; Donner Dinner Party; Treaties, Trenches, Mud and Blood (World War I); and the upcoming Underground Abductor about Harriet Tubman).Can't wait for the next two books to appear. I hear the 7th book in the series is on the drawing board, as well.

I read the first book in this series when it came out and highly enjoyed it, but three years have gone by before I got around to reading this next one! I loved this also but didn't find it near so funny. That may have been, though, that this was an entirely new subject for me. I have read many, many books about or take place during the Civil War but have never come across the navy aspect of it. Of course, I've heard of the Monitor and the Merrimac but this is my first introduction to them. This book is incredibly educational while being silly and fantastical at the same time. While Nathan Hale is the storyteller it is his sidekicks the Executioner and the British Redcoat that are the main feature of the series success. This is a wonderful introduction to all the people involved in the naval battles of the Civil War, what the military aspects of it were and how it was fought and won. The most intriguing character throughout this book is William Cushing, someone I'd love to read about again. Following the story, like the previous book, is a brief bio on all the major historical characters and a bibliography. The jokes are funny, the story is a riot and history comes alive. I'm really looking forward to the next book which is on one of my favourite frontier stories, the Donner Party!

Ho scoperto questo autore qui su Amazon e devo dire che mi ha colpito molto il suo modo di disegnare e raccontare storie realmente accadute in modo molto comprensibile rendendosi adatto ad ogni fascia di età. Ho scoperto molte cose della Storia americana che non conoscevo. Spero che venga pubblicato anche in Italia.

My boys 9 & 11 liked it. Said it was the funniest one in the series.

I bought all these books for my son as he loves them and they aren't available in our local library.