George Washington

by Cheryl Harness

Cheryl Harness uses her wonderfully vibrant art and down-to-earth writing style to "chip away the marble" and present George Washington as more than a monument. We see George the adventurous boy, tromping through the woods with his dog and his hunting rifle; George the courageous military leader fighting alongside his men; George the cunning military strategist, outfoxing the British and forcing their surrender at Yorktown; George the brilliant statesman presiding over the Constitutional Convention; and George the President, wisely protecting our country from enemies foreign and domestic so it could grow strong. But through it all, we see George as happiest living as an experimental farmer at Mount Vernon with his wife, Martha. He could have been Emperor of America, but he chose to spend his last years "looking after things that needed doing" at home.

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Genres: Biography, History, Nonfiction, American History, American Revolution, School, Childrens

48 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2000

About the author

Author and illustrator. Worked variously as a student teacher, waitress, short-order cook, portrait artist, and needlework designer. Greeting-card artist for Hallmark Cards and Current. Presenter at schools.

Reviews

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bright and colorful, with interesting stories from all parts of George Washington's life, this book is a great way to "flesh out" the man from the cherry-tree-chopping-first-president-larger-than-life myth. I loved the additional information in the illustrations, especially the maps and the group portraits of the Continental Congress and Constitutional Convention.

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[Christopher · Rating 4 out of 5]

4th grade - 6th grade

This book gives an accurate account of George Washington. It is not too long and the book is a little confusing when it goes into the Revolutionary War. But it is still very good. The illustrations show George Washington at all different ages, yet they present him as a hero. Most of the illustrations are painted from a lower perspective so that the viewer is looking up at President Washington, which gives him extra importance. A great thing about this book is that it places importance on other historical figures. For instance there is a picture of the Constitutional Convention on pages 32-33 and the author put a key with all of the names of the people pictured, in the back of the book. This book does contain a small bibliography.

Social Studies, U.S. History

Lesson Plan: Read this book along with the Social Studies text to give George Washington some depth as a man. Work along with a worksheet after this book has been read.

[Jaclyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great non-fiction children's history book that goes into great detail about the life of George Washington. The text and illustrations gave great information about his life and accomplishments in the American military and the start of the American government. I felt that some of the illustrations were distracting from the text, but they did not take away from the content of the book. This book details George's life from wishing to be in the military from age 11 to joining at age 21. After the Boston Tea party he was elected the General on the Patriots and led the American army through many tough times without giving up. He lead the army to victory when the British surrendered October 19th 1781 and later became the first president of America. This would be a great book to use as a read aloud to introduce the beginning of America's history and the impact George Washington had.

[Ally · Rating 4 out of 5]

As someone who worked at George Washington’s Mount Vernon giving tours, this book captures George Washington’s life and character better than any other children’s book I’ve read on him. The writing is clear and the illustrations are beautiful and educational. However, not enough space was dedicated to the institution of slavery and the enslaved people of Mount Vernon. Washington’s evolving relationship with the institution of slavery is a critical part of his life’s story, and his moral compromises on the issue is the greatest stain on his character. Another critique is that Indigenous tribes are not referred to by their names but as homogenous “Indians”. Another edition of this book could remedy these omissions. Other than these failings, this book provides an excellent estimation of his person.

[Bookbag_Betty · Rating 4 out of 5]

This Is A Glorious Day For Our Country.

TRAVELED TO // Virginia, The Thirteen Colonies, Washington Dc
MET ALONG THE WAY // George Washington

[Jessika Caruso · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an extremely thorough biography of George Washington for young readers. Its target audience would be elementary and middle school students, but history lovers of any age will probably learn something new. The illustrations are what elevate this book to five stars. The author is also a fantastic painter, and each page is riveting for easily distracted eyes. I especially loved how she painted every single member of the Continental Congress, including my ancestor James Henry Wilson. I’m certainly going to hunt down her other biographies.

[Jeanie Cullip · Rating 3 out of 5]

George Washington by Cheryl Harness. An extremely informative biographical picture book about the life of our first President, George Washington. Published by, National Geographic the information is credible and relatable to the upper elementary student. What I loved the most about this book was the details within the pictures. A student will gain a lot of information from studying the information in the drawn maps and illustrations of key moments in history. For example: those present at the Second Continental Congress (pages 14-15), the men in the room discussing the Constitution (pages 32-33) and the first administration hard at work (pages 38-39).

[Lily Foster · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this was an interesting and engaging biography children's book as it reveals some very cool and neat facts about George Washington as well as other important people at the Second Continental Congress. This would be a great book for the classroom when introducing important historical figures and what exactly George Washington accomplished. I also liked the idea that the last page was just a bunch of facts about George Washington himself which I feel children would find very interesting and memorable.

[Laurie Wheeler · Rating 3 out of 5]

Basic story of George Washington.

[Joelle Karlitz]

Title: George Washington
Author: Cheryl Harness
Illustrator: Cheryl Harness
Genre: Biography
Theme (s): Leadership
Opening Line/Sentence:
Brief Book Summary: This biography is about George Washington and his voyage in becoming a leader. The book describes the challenges and obstacles that he overcomes in order to become a president. It shows how George Washington has protected our country and what steps he took in order become the type of person that he became.
Professional Recommendation/Review #1: (Horn Book) Illustrated by Cheryl Harness. Designed to resemble a vintage volume, this succinct account of intercepted letters, invisible inks, and poisoning attempts explores a less well-known side of Washington's life and presents an informative look at historical espionage. Several codes are hidden throughout for readers to solve.
Professional Recommendation/Review #2: (Horn Book) Harness relates--and celebrates--all facets of the life of America's intelligent, tenacious first president, taking special care to cast Washington in terms of his times. The illustrations, a combination of watercolor, gouache, ink, and colored pencil, are laden with historical detail, featuring many maps, hand-lettered captions, and historical asides. A section in the back gives additional facts about Washington.
Response to Two Professional Reviews: I agree with both of the professional recommendations listed above. I enjoyed how the author explained to the reader the many challenges and obstacles that George Washington had to overcome in order to be a leader and take charge. I also loved his illustrations because of the different materials that he used on each page.
Evaluation of Literary Elements: There were wonderful and bright pictures throughout the biography, which help children, visualize what George Washington looked like. The storyline is simple which makes the biography age appropriate for fourth graders.
Consideration of Instructional Application: I believe that this is a great tool to be introduced into the classroom. Instead of just learning history from a textbook, Harness’s biography “George Washington” allows children to learn information in a likable and interesting way.

[Dolly · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very interesting and informative account of the life of our first President. It is very detailed, especially within some of the illustrations, so we took our time reading it and looking closely at all of the depictions of his farm, the battles, and the founding fathers of our country. The narrative is engaging and written at a 3rd-6th grade level. It would be perfect source material for a report on his life. I was very impressed with both the quality of the illustrations as well as the amount of detail given on George Washington's life. I think it is the perfect balance, although a bit too long to hold the interest of younger children. Still, we chose to read it in honor of President's Day and his birthday and we took our time, reading a few pages at a time. And overall, we really enjoyed reading this book together and learning more about this great man.

[Susan Tuttle · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a great one for kids in the second to sixth grades. The book is pretty long, especially if all the side notes are read, but not too difficult for kids this age. For younger kids I would skip reading all the details that are not part of the actual story.
There is so much great information in this book, stories told in a way that make you want to learn more about President Washington, the politics of the time and the Revolutionary War.
The pictures are great too. The pages seem kind of busy, but are jammed full with good information.
All children should have a good understanding of the courage and great accomplishments of the founding fathers. It is amazing what they created and in order to keep it the children of today need to be educated about it.

[Grayson · Rating 4 out of 5]

"George Washington" is by Cheryl Harness. She has written about Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin and many other books about important people and events in the history of America. The book begins with Washington's birth through his death. Of course, it tells a lot of the information that you have probably read in other books are learned in school but it also includes information about the less famous parts of his life and death that I didn't know. I enjoyed reading this book and learning some new things about one of my favorite and one our country's best presidents. With so many books about Washington, this one is well worth reading!

[Children's Literature Project · Rating 4 out of 5]

Guided Reading Level R.

George Washington was born in 1732. He lived in Virginia and wanted to become a British officer, but his mother would not let that occur. George Washington led the 13 colonies to freedom from the British and was loved by his countrymen for it. He became the first president of the United States and set many guidelines for how the government is run.

This book is great for 4th grade.

[Ryan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good enough for use with elementary students. The art shows it well.

[Matthew · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a great book. It provided a good history of George Washington that was though provoking for my 6 (almost 7) year-old. The artwork was even great.

[Matthew · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this as the historical accounts were on the dot and also gave us a better view of him.

[Melissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Informative about Washington's life, though glosses over flaws such as slavery. Good intro for elementary students.