George Washington: Soldier, Hero, President

DK Readers Level 3

by Justine Korman Fontes, Ron Fontes

This biography of one of the most famous and recognizable American presidents mark DK's commitment to bringing US history-based biographies to the DK Readers series. In George Washington, the young reader will learn about our first president's childhood, his life as a farmer, statesman, general, and his days as president. The 48-page Level 3 books, designed for children who can read on their own, contain more complex sentence structure and more detail. Young readers will devour these kid-friendly titles, which cover high-interest topics such as sharks, and the Bermuda Triangle, as well as classics like Aladdin. Information boxes highlight historical references, trivia, pronunciation, and other facts about words and names mentioned. Averaging 2,400 to 2,800 words, these books offer a 50/50 picture-to-text ratio. The Dorling Kindersley Readers combine an enticing visual layout with high-interest, easy-to-read stories to captivate and delight young bookworms who are just getting started. Written by leading children's authors and compiled in consultation with literacy experts, these engaging books build reader confidence along with a lifelong appreciation for nonfiction, classic stories, and biographies. There is a DK Reader to interest every child at every level, from preschool to grade 4.

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

32 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2001

About the author

Justine Korman is the author of over 600 children's books, including mega-selling adaptations of Disney hits like THE LION KING, plus her original popular GRUMPY BUNNY series for Scholastic.

Justine has been writing all her life. She worked part-time in publishing while earning her B.A. in English Literature, Phi Beta Kappa from New York University. While an editorial assistant at Golden Books, she met her future husband and partner, Ron Fontes, an artist in the Whitman Comics department, who moved on to mighty Marvel Comics.

When Justine started getting freelance writing assignments, Ron pitched in and a children's book writing team was born! Ron brought visual storytelling, theatre, and history; Justine enthusiasm, humor, and a straight-A attitude.

In 1988, the couple moved to Maine, where they have written everything from beginning readers and novelty books to historical fiction and graphic novels.
Justine's hobbies include fitness, juggling, gardening, cooking, and playing the ukulele. She also enjoys making movies with Ron.

The prolific couple's goal is to write 1001 children's books.

Reviews

[Neva]

i love this book because it teaches you about the first president of the U.S.A.

[Gretchen Rosch · Rating 5 out of 5]

1. This book is an information chapter book on George Washington. This book goes from describing his childhood and how he grew up all the way up to his life as president.
2. 2nd-3rd grade
3. Social Studies
4. Students who enjoy history and the presidents will enjoy this book.
5. In small groups the students could read this book and then write their own biography on him.
6. As a whole class the teacher could use this book to introduce the first president.
7. There are several informational books in this collection.
8. I was not able to find this online, but you can order it from several places.

[Mraks Marvolo]

It was actually a spruce leader!

[Brittany Martin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Author Justine Fontes breaks apart the life of George Washington into different sections. She begins with George Washington's childhood and experience surveying. In this sections she discusses how George's father died when George was young and, therefore, George had to take a leadership role early on in his life. When George was only 20, he inherited Mount Vernon from his deceased half-brother. After giving background knowledge, Fontes moves on to discuss George Washington's life as a soldier, describing some of his experiences in the French-Indian War. Other sections that Fontes includes are: farmer, friend, general, leader, and President.

This book is very informative and packed full of information. It was good, but nothing really stood out to me.

This book would be a great non-fiction resource for a classroom. It would be a great read for a unit on Presidents, George Washington, or famous American leaders. I would not recommend this book to young students because of the large quantity of words on each page, but older students could gain a lot of information by reading this book.

[Zahava Davis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Personal Reaction: Really nicely done biography. Interesting enough to keep a reader engaged, but super informative. I loved the combination of illustrations and images.
Purposes:
Read Aloud- This would be an excellent book to start off a unit on presidents and their lives more specifically. It really shows a lot more beyond Washington's presidency, which is good for students to see.
Independent Reading- I would assign this book with a collection of other books to a student who is doing a project over George Washington or presidents in general, or even to a kid who is particularly interested in learning about the lives of presidents if they have decided that one day they want to be the Commander in Chief!
For nonfiction- A great foundational book for students first learning about presidents and the foundation of America. It really hits on the basics in a way that sticks for kids.

[Kathryn · Rating 2 out of 5]

I picked up this book because I'm trying to expand my exposure to early readers, and I love the DK touch-and-feel books as well as their encyclopedia series for older readers. While this book is decently written and a good overview for the intended age group, I was disappointed by some of the historical content. Perhaps it's because DK is an English publisher, but they glossed over some of the most important details of Washington's life and even had some, not necessary inaccurate, but most certainly misleading information.

[Taylor Church · Rating 3 out of 5]

A cute read for kids. I simply have a copy because I plan to teach history one day, so I don't turn down historical literature no matter how elementary it is. Of course a 32 page book can not contain very many details, but I found this book jumped to conclusions that an extra paragraph or page would nicely explain. I also hate how books for kids contain so many exclamation points. But I learned a thing or two nonetheless.

[Ronster · Rating 4 out of 5]

Biography. This book shares the details of George Wahington's life from birth to death. Clear writing and includes real pictures of statues and monuments. Use for a unit on the life of our first president and could be used for as a studnet resource for a class living museum.

[Anjali Derhgawen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought that this was a good book on George Washington's biography. It was extremely informational, but a bit boring. I honestly lost interest after getting through half of the book.

[Kim]

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[Aria]

awesome stuff about George washington