George Washington: Our First Leader

by Augusta Stevenson, E. Joseph Dreany (Illustrator)

George Washington was the first President of the United States, the commander-in-chief of the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War, and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. But what was he like as a kid?

In this narrative biography, you’ll learn all about George Washington’s childhood, from his birth in Virginia on February 22, 1732, to his boyhood on a farm near Fredricksburg and later at Mount Vernon, to his relationship with his older brother, who was like a father to him. Find out what George did for fun—and what prepared him to eventually lead a new nation.

Genres: Biography, History, American History, Historical, Nonfiction, Middle Grade, Childrens

192 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1942

About the author

Augusta Stevenson (1869–1976) was a writer of children's literature and a teacher.

Reviews

[Cindy aka "The Book Fairy" · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderful story and such a pleasure reading about the younger childhood of another admirable founding father of the USA and his spiritual heritage! these books are excellent :)

[Connor H · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a nice, short read. However, the part about the hatchet and the cherry tree was false, so were some of his other childhood stories that you hear about today. George actually had a pretty mediocre childhood. Sure, he was rich, his father had a plantation, so he was well off, until he was 11. Then his dad died. After, he needed to know what to do with his life. but some of the stories were made up to make it seem like he was destined for greatness.

[Bella off hiatus · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty solid, I am glad I got it off of my shelves

[Kerri · Rating 4 out of 5]

My children and I read this for history. We all enjoyed the stories of what Washington was like as a child. Each chapter gives you a key to his character and what type of person he was. He is not charaterized as a perfect child, but getting into scrapes which probably caused his parents and teachers many headaches.

I appreciate that although Wahington was from a wealthy family, the book tries to be realistic and show that there were struggles even in that household.

It gives a picture of what Colonial America was like, and we liked the descriptions of the family using the river for tranportation more than the roads. It makes certain facts about history have some context.

[Reagan Faith Waggoner · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love imagining the childhood of such a well-known and accomplished man. His foundation as a surveyor has particularly stuck with me - I wish that today education involved more hands-on application of various fields.

18th century America is fascinating, as is the upbringing of our first president.

Definitely worthy of re-reads.

[Hannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Written for a children, a book about many events in the life of George Washington. I'm reading Hamilton's biography right now, so it's interesting reading what happened to Washington to make him the man he was who we see in that book.

[Aimee · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this as a read aloud to include in our homeschool curriculum. It was an okay book but I think it is meant for younger age children than who I read it for. My daughter is 13 and wasn’t super into it so I would say this applies more to upper elementary students rather than middle school students.

The reason I personally am giving it three stars is because I felt like the first half of the book was so drawn out and took forever to read and then the last half of the book was cut really short. The first 3/4 of the book was all about George Washington’s childhood (as the book states) but I got so bored reading it. I couldn’t stand to read it more than one day a week, which is why it took me a month to finish. The last 1/4 of the book seemed to just cram everything from him meeting his wife on into about 40 or so pages. I wondered why they even bothered to add those parts in since it was a book specifically about “young George Washington?”

Another part that I didn’t like from the standpoint of a young reader, or listener in my case, is that the chapters jumped around so much. I would have to stop and explain why there was one topic being talked about and then all of a sudden we were on a completely different day. I have a huge collection of these books about all different people in history and I’m really worried I’m going to hate them all...this is the first one we have read and I’m a little concerned!

[Jaxon Risch · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has been one of my favorite historical fiction book i read so far. I liked this book because i like history and this book has history i wold recommend you to read this book if you like history and long books.

[Becky · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was another great book in this series. I thought the author did a very good job with the amount of time she spent on the different stages in Washington's life. She showed how his honesty and leadership at a young age helped him prepare to be the first president of the United States of America.

[Rachel Drake · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good information for my kids

[Deanna Sutter · Rating 3 out of 5]

So far I've been really impressed with this series. My children really seem to be connecting to the people and are really getting a feel for what it was like to live and grow up during that time period.

I was really impressed with how great George Washington was. It's inspired me to read an adult bio of him sooner than later.

[Cristalle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good overall view of George Washington's life--especially his childhood. Did fine it odd however, that there was really no discussion of his service to our counrty in the Revolutionary War. Basically skipped from his childhood, his profession as a surveyor and then on to his election as President.

[Beth Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read aloud to Emma and Will. They enjoyed hearing about George Washington's life as a child, but I think they would have been even more enthralled if there was more about his adult life than the final chapter's quick overview. I always enjoyed hearing the lesser known details about the early life in this biography series, but I was a bit older when I read them too.

[Olivia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was pretty impressed this book, I not a person who likes American history very much, but I really liked this book. I never was really interested George Washington before,but this book really inspired me...

[JillJYA]

Folks! This horror show isn't a book I'm "really" reading! That is, I'm not reading it to learn about George Washington. I'm reading it to learn about how people in the 1950s learned about George Washington. Big difference there!

[Brenda Ames · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this book but I was disappointed that it was mostly about his life as a child. This is a good start for learning about GW but you need another book to pick up where this one ends. It also gives the reader a good idea of what life was like when GW was growing up.

[Tara · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this book. It was the story of George Washington's life. I didn't know that he was a really great surveyor. You should read this book because you might find it interesting and learn a lot about all the things that George Washington did before he became president.

Isaiah
4th grade

[Sierra Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

I LOVED this book! It is a very easy read, level about 4th Grade, but it was very informative and I learned a lot from it. This book was very factual but it told a lot of stories throughout his life. I recommend this book to kids in Elementary School.

[William Shep · Rating 4 out of 5]

This delightful book served as an enjoyable bedtime story to my son when he was seven years old, as he had already stated that George Washington was his favorite president.

[T · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was fun reading about things I had never heard about George Washington including that he was once a surveyor.

[John Yelverton · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great and wonderful story for children to learn and understand the life of the "Father" of this country.

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good little book. I think most children would enjoy reading about George Washington from this perspective.

[Babymouse · Rating 3 out of 5]

it was ok

[Grace · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked it because I like U.S. presidents!!!!!!!!

[Deborah Harris]

AR Quiz No. 823 EN Nonfiction
Accelerated Reader Quiz Information IL: MG - BL: 3.7 - AR Pts: 3.0
Accelerated Reader Quiz Type Information AR Quiz Types: RP

[Mindy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this with my children and we loved learning more about George Washington when he was a young boy. We learned some very fun stories! Fun book.

[Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Biography of George Washington - tells primarily of George's childhood and young adult hood. Shows his strong work ethic from a young age.

[Nathaniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked it. It tells the story about the cherry tree.

[Caleb · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was ok. But it wasn't the best.

[Charlotte · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked it. Even though I already know a lot about Washington, I learned some new things.