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GEORGE

Name: GEORGE
Author: Frank Keating
ISBN: 978-1-4169-5482-8

GEORGE WASHINGTON, OUR FOUNDING FATHER

From the Mount Rushmore series

by Frank Keating & illustrated by Mike Wimmer ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 3, 2012

Washington remains an historic hero despite flaws and defeats. These are recounted in far more accomplished biographies, and...

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By the age of 15, George Washington had written out a list of precepts taught to him by his teachers, the “Rules of Civility and Decent Behaviour in Company and Conversation,” by which he lived and was guided throughout his life.

Excerpts from this little-known historical document appear throughout this stolid picture-book biography of our first president, in which Washington describes some salient details of his life and career in the first person. The rules are worthy, but readers will note that there is usually no relationship between them and the facts presented on the same page. While the volume is stirring, there is no cohesion to the narrative, and it will not even serve report writers, as most dates and events go unmentioned, as do many highlights of Washington’s story. Only the notes to the artwork provide some factual context. Young readers wondering if Washington ever faced any setbacks will find no evidence of them here. What emerges from these pages is a larger-than-life icon with no warts. Wimmer’s paintings are masterful and dramatic, though some seem stiffly posed. The cover portrait is certainly rousing.

Washington remains an historic hero despite flaws and defeats. These are recounted in far more accomplished biographies, and children will be better served by reading about the real man elsewhere. (author’s note, artist’s note, bibliography) (Picture book/biography. 8-11)

Pub Date: Jan. 3, 2012

ISBN: 978-1-4169-5482-8

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Paula Wiseman/Simon & Schuster

Review Posted Online: Oct. 4, 2011

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2011

Categories:

CHILDREN'S BIOGRAPHY & MEMOIR | CHILDREN'S HISTORY

- BOOK REVIEW
HAMILTON
by Frank Keating ; illustrated by Mike Wimmer

- BOOK REVIEW
ABRAHAM
by Frank Keating ; illustrated by Mike Wimmer

- BOOK REVIEW
THEODORE
by Frank Keating & illustrated by Mike Wimmer

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HATSHEPSUT, HIS MAJESTY, HERSELF

by Catherine M. Andronik & illustrated by Joseph Daniel Fiedler ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 1, 2001

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Thanks to the strenuous efforts of her successor, Tuthmosis III, to eliminate all evidence of her 15th-century b.c.e. reign, the historical record is particularly spotty for Hatshepsut, the most successful of the few women who became rulers of ancient Egypt. Still, hedging the speculative portions of her narrative with plenty of “perhaps”-es and “probably”-s, Andronik (Prince of Humbugs: A Life of P.T. Barnum, 1994) assembles a credible, coherent reconstruction. Coming to power largely due to attrition in the royal family, Hatshepsut assumed an office that had no female referents. Consequently, to reinforce her position, she dressed as a man, even in a false beard, and often referred to herself as a man—which confused the eminent 19th-century archaeologist Champollion, for one, to no end. Basing his figures on ancient statuary and wall paintings, Fiedler creates illustrations in the formal Egyptian style and grand manner, evoking more sense of time and place than personality, but imbuing his portraits of Hatshepsut with a regal air. Younger students of Ancient Egypt and women’s history alike will find this careful, but not stuffy, study worthwhile, and the closing bibliography of fiction and nonfiction provides some intriguing follow-up reading. (Biography. 8-11)

Pub Date: March 1, 2001

ISBN: 0-689-82562-5

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Atheneum

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2000

Categories:

CHILDREN'S BIOGRAPHY & MEMOIR | CHILDREN'S HISTORY

- BOOK REVIEW
WILDLY ROMANTIC
by Catherine M. Andronik

- BOOK REVIEW
KINDRED SPIRIT
by Catherine M. Andronik

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ABIGAIL ADAMS

by Alexandra Wallner & illustrated by Alexandra Wallner ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 15, 2001

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Abigail Adams, wife and mother of American presidents, with a remarkable story of her own, gets a rather dull introduction to her life in Wallner's (Sergio and the Hurricane, 2000, etc.) picture-book biography. Wallner's text plods through Abigail's life, noting important dates and events, particularly the birth of all her children. Abigail supports her husband in his fight for independence at home, where she runs the family farm and manages the finances and her growing family. She also joins Adams in England when he is ambassador there. Later, she becomes the first president's wife to live in the White House. Abigail is shown as a strong woman, disappointed in her efforts to win a place for women and blacks in the new Constitution. Readers learn about Abigail's thoughts and personality as she matures from child to adult, from homemaker to public figure, but unfortunately we do not hear more than a few phrases in Abigail's own voice. Abigail, who is known through her many published letters, was a lively and interesting correspondent and little of that liveliness permeates this effort. The author's folkart-style illustrations depict a homely group of colonialists in pleasantly colorful detail. A timeline and bibliography would have been helpful to young researchers. This intelligent, early feminist and civil-rights advocate deserves better. (Biography. 8-10)