Patience Wright: American Sculptor and Revolutionary Spy

by Pegi Deitz Shea, Bethanne Andersen (Illustrator)

The intriguing story of one of America’s first spies—a woman!

Born in 1725 in the American colonies, Patience Wright discovered her talent for art at an early age. As an adult, she joined her sister in a wax-sculpting business and later moved on her own to England. There, Patience became a spy for the colonies, hiding messages in the sculpted busts she sent to her sister’s waxworks in America. Here is the story of a woman who lived an extraordinary life, full of art and intrigue.  Patience Wright is a 2008 Bank Street - Best Children's Book of the Year.

Genres: Picture Books, Biography, Art, Nonfiction, History, American Revolution, Childrens

40 pages, Hardcover

First published February 20, 2007

Reviews

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great longer picture book. Went well with our study of American History this year...krb 8/6/21

Read again getting ready for 4th of July. Ellie asked for a picture book so I picked this one. Very interesting book. Talked about Benjamin West which I asked the kids if they remembered reading the book Benjamin West and his cat Grimalkin. The kids didn't remember this book so I think we she re-read it soon!....krb 6/29/22

[Abigail · Rating 4 out of 5]

Author Pegi Deitz Shea and illustrator Bethanne Andersen explore the life history of 18th-century American wax sculptor and Revolutionary War spy Patience Wright in this engaging picture book biography. Born in the American colonies in 1725 to a family of Quakers, Patience Lovell had an unusual upbringing for a girl of the time, given an education, raised as a vegetarian, and encouraged to develop her artistic talent. Years later, when her husband died, she became a professional wax sculptor in order to support her five children, going into business with her sister. Eventually becoming renowned throughout the colonies, she expanded her business to London, where she created sculptures of royalty and influential aristocrats and politicians. It was in this capacity that she became a spy, passing information on to Benjamin Franklin and other patriots, in the years leading up to and during the Revolution. The book closes with an author's note, a timeline and a bibliography...

I have enjoyed at least one other picture book biography from both Shea— Noah Webster: Weaver of Words —and Andersen—Yona Zeldis McDonough's Louisa: The Life of Louisa May Alcott —before, so I picked up Patience Wright: American Sculptor and Revolutionary Spy with some anticipation. I was not disappointed, finding the story it told fascinating, and the artwork appealing. Despite being named for a notable woman of the Revolutionary period myself, and being interested in the women of the founding generation, I had never heard of Wright before, so I am glad to have that gap in my knowledge corrected. Wright was certainly atypical for her time period, in both her upbringing and life choices, but that makes her story more interesting. It is sad to think that of her massive artistic output, only one piece—a portrait of William Pitt—remains intact, due to the fact that she sculpted in wax, and her pieces were therefore quite fragile. In any case, I would recommend this one to young biography lovers, and anyone seeking stories about women, artists and/or spies during the American Revolution. Apparently Wright has a cameo appearance in the television series Turn: Washington's Spies, which I have long meant to watch. I think now this will be my next television project.

[K · Rating 5 out of 5]

How can it be that I have lived more than six decades and am just learning about this American patriot today?

Patience Wright was America's first international business woman. Truly, expat inspiration! She wasn't just winging it overseas either, she had colonial agent and lobbyist Benjamin Franklin introducing her into British royal circles where she was in great demand for her wax portrait sculptures of politicians and royalty. Even future President of the United States George Washington wanted her to come home and make a wax bust of him.

With so much access to high level Brits at the exact moment America was seeking independence, she acted as a spy and sent communication back to the States hidden inside her sculptures.

This was a delightful read about a woman way, way ahead of her time.

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Patience Wright was arguably America's Madame Tussaud.
She was a waxworks artisan and a spy for America in the Revolutionary War, using her unique and life-like art to convey messages of War.
Serving as a mother to her many siblings, surviving arguable treason and financial struggles, she is a very resilient woman. She even garners the attention of Benjamin Franklin to her credits.

Patience was supposed to be the artist who made a bust of future First President, Gen. George Washington. Unfortunately, that never happened.
The book reads like fiction as we meet Patience and her struggles with money, family, jobs, recognition and love.
She was definitely a gifted artist and B.A. woman of History!

[Claudia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another woman most of us have never heard of...and artist and spy?? How very cool. Patience and her sister worked in wax...making life-sized figures, often of the famous people of the day. She caught the attention of Ben Franklin, who became her champion.

She moved to England before the Revolutionary War, and stayed, making her figures, and sending intelligence back to the Colonial rebels within the heads of her beautiful sculptures. Daring! She was suspected to be a spy and followed Franklin to Paris...she never returned to the fledgling country she helped create. Only one of her sculptures still exists...of William Pitt.

[Hannah Dull · Rating 5 out of 5]

Genre: Biography
Grade Level: 3-5

This was a really great telling of the story of Patience Wright. I didn’t know much about her before reading it, and now feel very well informed. This would be a great book to pair with a history lesson about the Revolutionary War. It brings a good female perspective. The illustrations were done well.

[Cat Fithian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of information. Great illustrations. Fascinating story. Writing is a bit dry.

[Melissa Ganka-Collins · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love history in storybooks! What a great story of feminism, patriotism, and faith.

[Cindi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved learning about Patience and her work and art.

[Makenna Eash · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nonfiction (historical)
Grades 3-5
I learned a lot from this short book! I had never heard of Patience Wright, despite my love for American History, but I am so glad I have now. This book has a lot of historical information, including people and dates, as well as wonderful sketch-like illustrations that added enjoyment to the book. This book is definitely for older children, but would be a great asset in a Revolutionary War unit or even for Women's History month. Overall, I liked this book!!

[lovi · Rating 4 out of 5]

ate

[Sue · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read to 3rd grade during Women's History month. Patience was a girl raised in the Quaker tradition in the 1700s. She found she had the ability to sculpt figures from mud and clay and then moved on to wax heads when that became the new fad. She and her sister Rachel opened stores in Philadelphia and New York. Patience then traveled to England and worked in the trade there. As she was sculpting members of parliament she is able to gather information to send to the Patriots in our war with England.

[N · Rating 5 out of 5]

Here's the need to know about Patience Wright
- She called the King and Queen of England by their first names (Michelle just hugged the Queen)
- She was A SPY during the American Revolution
- Almost got arrested for having Benjamin Franklin's head (a statue)
- She made sculptures BETWEEN HER LEGS
- She was a lapsed vegetarian
- First female international artist/entrepreneur
- She sculpted with whale blubber (okay that's gross)

[Pam · Rating 5 out of 5]

Patience Wright's life is absolutely fascinating. Given the dearth of information from that period especially on women, I thing Pegi Deitz Shea did a good job bringing her to life. Bethanne Andersen's illustrations fit the period and have a soft artistic quality that I enjoyed. If you are interested in history and in particular the history of women, you might enjoy this book. I would like to read more about her.

[Jenne · Rating 4 out of 5]

We have Bern on the search for stories of women in history and it is all the better when it can be combined with history, art and spy stories. This would have gotten 5 stars from me if the recipe for apple dumplings had been included at the back and perhaps some further information on sculpting with wax. There are many extension activities that can be enjoyed from this book.

[Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

This beautifully illustrated book tells the story of Patience Wright, an artist and spy during the American Revolution. Tackling hardships and solving problems in a clever way, Patience has a story that should be told. Even more exciting, there is a shout to William Pitt, the namesake for a tavern on the grounds of the Strawbery Banke Museum.

[Shaelynn Bowman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Genre: Biography
Age Range: Middle Grades
This book was very informational about the story of Patience Wright. I didn't know a lot about her before reading this book and I felt like this book gave just the right amount of information to comprehend. It also had beautiful illustrations to keep students engaged while learning about a historical figure.

[Shelli · Rating 2 out of 5]

You would think that a book about a Revolutionary sculptor/spy would have been more interesting, yet I was bored and could barely force myself through this small read. The name dropping of important people at the time was also over the top and added nothing to the story.

[Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Informative, well-written picture book complemented by lovely artwork brings alive a little-told story about an accomplished sculptor who also worked as a spy for the American Revolution.

[Doris Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

Illustrations created by using gouache and pastel on Arches buff paper

[Krista the Krazy Kataloguer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'd never heard of this woman until I read this book!

[Michelle · Rating 2 out of 5]

I got bored about 1/3 of the way through.

[Dmitry Jakobs · Rating 3 out of 5]

The non-fiction book that I decided to read for this semester was "Patience Wright" by Pegi Deitz Shea. This book is about a woman from New York who turned out to be an amazing artist and even a revolutionary spy. Patience grew up in the rural areas of New York with her two parents, many sisters, and single brother. Patience then married and began to make wax sculptures of people. After her husband died, Patience and her sister started their own art studio and Patience even went to live in London for a while. While in London, Patience made sculptures for some of the most respected people in London and even got information about the revolution from them that she would then send back to the colonies.
I rated this book a three for a couple reasons. One reason why I rated this nook a three is because it had a lot of great information but it was a very short story. If I was the author, I would have made the story at least 20 more pages long. I thought the the illustrations in the story were very artistic! The illustrations did a wonderful job of helping me visualize Patience's life and history.
I would recommend this story to a couple different types of readers. I think that anyone with an interest in art or history would enjoy this short story. I also believe that maybe a history teacher could read this to his or her class if they were learning about the war. In conclusion, I think that this was a great short story that most people would enjoy!