Grew up reading this book! Loved it! Cute little history lesson.

The American writer Jean Fritz wrote the children's book, George Washington’s Breakfast in 1969. The book has illustrations by Paul Galdone. The cover art of the edition I have was by Tomie dePaola in 1997. The book follows George W. Allen who is “proud of two things. His name and his birthday. George was named for George Washington. And he had the same birthday. February 22” (Fritz 2). George Allen becomes obsessed with what George Washington had for breakfast on a daily basis. The book illustrates the steps towards historical research including a trip to George Washington’s Mount Vernon plantation home in Virginia. Even though the internet changed historical research, the book illustration of the steps of historical research has not changed in many ways since 1969. The biggest change that the book would have had in more modern times is, the book does not mention George and his wife, Martha Washington’s black cooks at Mount Vernon, who were enslaved, who prepared the Washingtons’ breakfast on a daily basis at Mount Vernon. The website for the National Park called George Washington’s Mount Vernon fills in this gap in George Washington’s Breakfast. It has a section of the website called “A Day in the Life of an Enslaved Cooks in 1799”. Another useful section of the website is called “Biographies”, which are of several of the enslaved people at Mount Vernon. Another useful section of the website is called “Labor at the Mansion”, a snapshot of the enslaved labor at Mount Vernon in 1799. In fact, the whole “Slavery” section of George Washington’s Mount Vernon’s website under the heading “George Washington” should be looked at when reading George Washington’s Breakfast to gain a fuller understanding of the story. In summary, I think George Washington’s Breakfast is a fun introduction to historical research but should be read along with the “Slavery” section of the website of the National Park for George Washington’s Mount Vernon. I found the website for the National Park of George Washington’s Mount Vernon useful in this ‘review’.

With original cover art by Paul Galdone, mine was paperback

Interesting premise, simple children's book.

It is true that kids usually ask the odd questions that adults wouldn't typically think of.

In this story, George is a boy that was named after George Washington. He loves everything about him and knows a lot about him too. One morning while eating his own breakfast though, he wonders what the President ate. And that starts him on a quest for the answer.

You and your children will pick up some fun facts before finding out what our first President ate in the morning.

Ages: 6 - 11

Cleanliness: a boy gets upset and stomps upstairs.

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I felt this was a really creative take on the subject. As a homeschooler that tends to follow the interest of my child, I could really relate to this story as the family tries many tacts to answer the son's question. Would love to have followed up the read with a visit to Mt. Vernon too!. Someday.

We did make hoecakes though (sans hoe.)

Excellent book! My kids (ages 3-9) and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I tried to stop in the middle and they wouldn’t let me. A living history book for sure.

I love how it demonstrates the reasoning process in a way that kids can understand. Through this story they learn to embrace curiosity and ask good questions. All the famous people in history did eat something for breakfast. Kids always ask the best questions.

The only thing I didn’t just love was that the boy raises his voice at his parents and stomps upstairs. Reading it aloud, I made his tones more disappointed than angry. Just noting it.

I still highly recommend!

AR 4.1

Read along with our study of the Revolutionary War. Fritz does a great job of weaving Washington's life story in with the story of a modern-day little boy. My kids enjoyed it and remember much more about Washington than they might have otherwise.

Read 5/23/16

Ellie chose this book to read before bed...krb 9/12/18

This wasn't my favorite of the books we've read about Washington. We didm however, learn a few things we hadn't known before.

I thought the Grandma exceptionally cranky and I sure wouldn't want her for my grandma. I also didn't appreciate how the son yelled at his parents when he was angry.

One of my sons really enjoyed it and is telling everyone what a great book it is. I'm not sure if we'll read it again. It's a quick read though....

I picked this book up the first time in preparation of our trip to Mount Rushmore. When we were learning about the Revolution, I pulled it out again. The information shared about George Washington is great, but what I really love is the kid's tenacity and enthusiasm in researching his questions. I'm hoping that the example can rub off on my own kids.