Tricking the Tallyman by Jacqueline Davies

Tricking the Tallyman Reviews

• 
  Melki

  . . . because what child wouldn't want to read a book about the first U.S. census?
  
  Actually, this is pretty entertaining.
  
  In 1790, Phineas Bump arrives in the town of Tunbridge, Vermont. His goal is to count every single person living there. The residents are suspicious of this stranger; rumor has it that the more people counted by The Terrible Tallyman, the more money the town will pay in taxes. Oddly enough, when the tallyman makes his count the next day, he finds only one single woman living there. BUT, when it is explained to the townsfolk that more people in town means more representation within the new government, suddenly everyone is humming a different tune. The tallyman's next count is far higher, including "children" sporting whiskers and tails!
  
  
  
  This is a very cute and surprising story, based on true events.
  
  Incidentally, it took 650 tallymen nine months to count the entire population of the country - 3,929,326. (I'm assuming they were all human.)
• 
  Abigail

  Phineas Bump was "heartsick, saddle-sore, and down on his luck." One of 650 marshals dispatched by the federal government in 1790, in order to tally the population for the first national census, Phineas hadn't seen wife and home in many months, and was running out of supplies. But "Count them I must, and count them I will," he tells himself. Unfortunately, the people of Tunbridge, Vermont - led by Mrs. Samuel Pepper and her clever son, Boston - have no intention of making his task any easier...
  
  An amusing story based on historical fact, Tricking the Tallyman introduces young children to an aspect of American history and government - the census - that they may never otherwise have considered. It also highlights the fact that the issues of political representation and taxation are intimately connected in our democracy. I can't say that S.D. Schindler's illustrations were to my taste, which surprised me, as I love the work he did for Ursula K. Le Guin's
  Catwings series; and I have to wonder, as the Horn Book reviewer noted, why Davies chose to set her tale in Vermont, which didn't have a census until 1791; but overall this was an engaging tale that highlights an interesting footnote to history.
• 
  J. Bryce

  A cute short book about the first US Census, 1790, and how one enumerator tries to count a reticent village. (A brief post-script explains how it's all changed in the last 220 years.) Entertaining, nicely and colorfully illustrated by S. D. Schindler.
  
  The only thing I didn't like was the dialogue -- too much like what people expect 18th Century people to sound like, which in turn is closer to Elizabethan/Shakespearian use than reality. But even that became forgivable.
  
  Recommended.
• 
  Erin

  What a great little picture book for teaching history with an amusing story. The pictures add a lot of fun to the story as you look for evidence of the town's attempts to trick the tallyman when he comes to make his count, and there are some good details that help you understand the time period better, such as the way ink was made in a pinch. This was probably my favorite of this year's Battle of the Books titles that I read personally.
• 
  Treasa

  With his motto "Count them I must and count them I will," Phineas Bump arrives at a town, ready to fulfill his job of counting everyone for the census of 1790. The town, however, has other ideas. Hoping to trick the government for the town's benefit, the townspeople try to disguise how many people really live there. They soon find, however, that telling the truth is the best policy.
  
  While I enjoyed this story, I am not sure how much it would appeal to children as a fun read. The idea of the town dressing up animals in an attempt to increase their reported population is amusing. If there was a little more time devoted to that part of the story, I think it would be more likely to grab a child's interest. But every child is different, and if a child were especially interested in Colonial times or history in general or maybe in trickster tails, he might really enjoy this. It is well-written with fun illustrations... and there really isn't anything about the story that I didn't like. But I have a hard time picturing a child getting really into it.
  
  However, that being said, I think it's a great book to have out right now. What a fun way to discuss with children the census that is about to start up this year! This book is geared toward older children (we have it shelved with the chapter books), probably children in 3 grade and up (though that is not to say that younger children couldn't appreciate it), and it might be fun for them to contrast what poor Phineas Bump has to go through with census workers do today.
• 
  Natalie

  Moving on to the 3rd/4th BOB books!
  
  Phineas Bump is an overworked tallyman in 1790. He comes into town and hijinks among the citizens ensue. First the town doesn't want to send any men to the draft so they all hide and claim only 1 women lives there. Then they learn the town will get money and representation based on how many people live there, so they convince the tallyman to count again and pretend tons of people live in the town.
  
  The citizens eventually learn there's really only one right thing to do.
  
  Fun book in a great historical setting.
• 
  Lisa

  I read many children’s books about the census this year. This is the only one that my first grader wanted to listen to. She has requested it over and over again for bedtime reading. The story is funny and clever, the illustrations crack us up, and her questions have sparked many interesting conversations.
• 
  Rory

  I saw this sitting around at work, being processed out of our now defunct "American History" picturebook bin. The census, as a concept AND practice, has always fascinated me, and this tale read both as fun history and silly fable. I dug it.
• 
  Sandy

  A fun way to introduce kids to the census. My daughter enjoyed this book. While it did take some explaining, she loved the pictures and found the towns "tricks" to be hilarious.
• 
  Jessie

  About a long-suffering census taker in an early US census, but mostly about why people would and would not want to be counted and the importance of an accurate count.
  
  There's a *lot* of text here.
  
  Interesting pairing with Dan Bouk's
  Democracy's Data: The Hidden Stories in the U.S. Census and How to Read Them, though obviously targeted at a very different audience.
• 
  Briana Lewellen

  This book was super fun! All about a woman trying to trick the Tallyman with how many children she had and how many people were in the town. A great historical fiction! Wonderful book to keep in the classroom and to read aloud!
• 
  Alesha

  I’m counting this as a whole book so that I can try to reach my challenge of 50 books. I read this to my little sister. She and I both enjoyed it. It is a kids book and was very short (40 pages) but it was still very cute 😊
• 
  Judy Hunsaker

  This was a fun read and taught my kids about the census and how it was different in the beginning. I worked as an enumerator this year so my kids have gotten an earful on its importance and this was fun to see how it started out.
• 
  Alice

  4 stars for this book that recounts the multiple counts for the 1790 census of a small Vermont town that does not understand the purpose of the census (probably because there has been no explanation given them)
• 
  Karijean31

  Cute book
• 
  Anna

  Interesting read with a glimpse of the past of how the government used to do the census. The illustrations are tip-top with a nice use of color.
• 
  Melissa

  3.5*
• 
  Rae

  A well-drawn and humorous tale about the very first census in America...and the mishaps that might have arisen due to misinformation.
• 
  Denicemarcell

  recommended at NELA2019
• 
  Sally

  Fun book to read and discuss as we have a census later this year.
• 
  Sara

  Fun kids book about the census taker in 1790.
• 
  Julia Vine

  This could be used as a very fun read-aloud (in multiple parts) to introduce a new unit in Social Studies around the late 1700s. Very whimsical for a children's' historical fiction book, which could be very fun for younger students.
• 
  Sarah W

  Phineas Bump is a tallyman, one of 650 men sent out in 1790 to take the first United States census. Beleaguered by his travels, Phineas finds his problems only get worse when he tries to count the people of Tunbridge, Vermont. The townspeople have no desire to be counted for taxes and soldiers so he finds only one free woman there. Then the townspeople learn that the tally determines how many people are sent to the new government. Suddenly, Tunbridge has over 1700 residents to be counted. When the townspeople learn that the census is for takes and for representation, can they convince Phineas to count them again?
  
  This book provides a humorous overview of how the census worked when it first started and its multiple purposes. This would be a useful story for a young social studies class. Phineas repeated statement of 'Count them I must, and count them I will," could make this an enjoyable read aloud.
• 
  Rebecca

  Census picture book alert! I especially love that this just works as a funny story with silly language! No need to know what a census is, though you will get some history about the first census and a nice outreach message about census participation. This enumerator gives it her stamp of approval.
  
  **Note that it includes the historically accurate phrase "free white", with a note at the very end about how different racial groups were counted in 1790. I like that it doesn't duck this issue, but it also doesn't explore it very deeply. If you read this with kids you might want to be ready to extend that conversation.
• 
  A

  Good for an elementary level social studies lesson about the first American Census. The townspeople try to outwit the Tallyman, twice! First they hide everyone because they are afraid of being taxed too much. Then, when the Tallyman returns they bring out everyone, including their farm animals and dress them up as children, aunts and cousins to get extra money for buildings and roads, etc. In the end they end up telling the truth because it's the right thing to do. Illustrations are nicely done and say a lot for the story. This picture book for older readers is appropriate for children in grades 1 through 4.