Product Description

George was a leader even in his younger days. The boys looked up to him for his strength, skills, intelligence, and honesty. Events in his boyhood are recounted, even the cherry tree incident.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #224216 in Books
• Published on: 1986-10-31
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 192 pages

Customer Reviews

This is a fictionalized-biography.
Note that this book is a fictionalized-biography about the childhood of George Washington. Only about the last 20 (of 192) pages is about Washington becoming an officer and president. What this story does is show children what it was like to be a child during this time period. I think it does a fine job of that. My six-year-old son enjoyed having this book read aloud to him. Children 8-10 could easily read it on their own. My son and I had to discuss parts of the book that he didn't have any knowledge of: trades (what is a ferryman, surveyor, tailor, blacksmith, cooper, tanner?), the language used in reference to slavery (Negro is not a word we use anymore), the injustice of slavery, the cruelty of a ship captain to his sailors, why the Indians didn't want to sell their land, and a brief mention of scalping. I don't think I will read it to my daughter at age six since she is more tender-hearted. My son particularly enjoyed the boys at play: the pole-rafting contest, pretending to be soldiers, and hiding the school master's wig. This book accomplished what it set out to do- to give kids a brief look at what is was like to be a child in the eighteenth century. This book is not what you're looking for if you want historical facts on the adult life of George Washington.

George Washington Young Leader
This book is interesting from a child's perspective. However the vocabulary and many of the concepts were a little too advanced for my twelve year old students to grasp. I was disappointed that the focus of the book was only on the youthful George Washinton. Since nothing much is known about his childhood, the author took a great deal of liberty in fleshing out the story.