Wow, this guy's life was fascinating!! And this book tells it in such a fun and easy-going way(I really like this author's biographies...they include such personal details that make the people seem so much more real. This book was lengthier than the others I've read, without so many pictures, but still has the same style as the simpler "picture" biographies). There was a lot of humor that just cracked me up (the kids didn't quite get why I thought it was so funny though...they chalked it up to 'adult humor'). I really had no idea he was SO loved and honored by the American people. I knew he was a key General in the American Revolution, but didn't know about his close bond with Gen. Washington, nor about how he "snuck" out of France to fight for the Americans, nor the role he played in the French Revolution era, nor his hero's welcome he received in the US when he came back. Really quite the amazing life story! As someone else commented here, Lafayette may be my new hero!

Lafayette may be my new hero.

1. Grade Level:3-6 grade
2.Summary: This book explores the life of the French soldier who fought side-by-side with General Washington during the Revolutionary War. Then he returned home to France with similar principles of liberty for which he fought for many years. this book gives accurate details of that time
3. Reveiw: This book teaches young men about a brave man who's about nineteen year old. A man who has became a hero and fought again the British people.
4.In Class use: Its a great book to use to teach about the role of the presidents of the United States. It teaches children about brave and courageous men who have lived in the past. Its a great reference for the American history.

And why not? This was Lafayette's motto and he fell in love with freedom and the glory of it. Wonderful biography for young people and those of us who are not so young either.

Chock full of facts and still interesting for kids to read.

It might be hard to relate to an orphaned nobleman who marries at 16 and at 19, leaves his pregnant wife to fight in the American Revolution. But that shows how much things have changed.

Biography of Lafayette that covers his entire life, including his presence in France during the July Revolution of 1830 until his death in 1834.

Reading to decide if it’s worth assigning to my kids. A good, brief biography of a great man who had a tremendous influence on the American Revolution.

Lafayette was an amazing person, and I think that this book portrayed his character well. He was very brave and courageous.

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AR POINTS: 3.0 READING LEVEL 6.7
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Why Not, Lafayette? by Jean Fritz (1999; 2001 ed.) 84 pages.

‘Why not?’ was Lafayette’s motto. He was tired of everyone saying no. His father had died while fighting in a war and, at age two, his mom left for Paris, leaving him with his grandparents to raise. After marrying and his second child born, he snuck away to America to help her fight for her independence.

He became like a son to George Washington and fought side by side with him. They were inseparable. Lafayette even named his son after him, George Washington de Lafayette.

Marie Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette, otherwise known simply as Lafayette, or sometimes Gilbert, was a Frenchman from Paris. He absolutely loved America and its independence and fought all his life to bring it to France. He stood against Napoleon Bonaparte, who wanted to conquer and rule all of Europe. He even spent many years in a German prison, when he was trying to escape a Revolution when the liberties took over and were beheading all the aristocrats. Unfortunately, Marquis de Lafayette was born into the aristocrats, but, he did not believe in the title and never allowed anyone in France to call him Marquis. Still, they considered him an aristocrat.

He was well-known and loved by the Americans and had travelled back and forth over the years. On his final trip over to the U.S., Americans welcomed him like a king. And when he left he took a crate full of American soil to cover his grave when he died. He took back so many other things as well, so much so that he had to use a second vessel just to carry his newly acquired American belongings, which included many animals.

This was a great and interesting little chapter book story for young readers. I had no idea who Lafayette was and now am anxious to learn more about him. Fayetteville, North Carolina, was named after him. Now, there are at least half a dozen towns called Fayetteville throughout the U.S. named after our America loving Frenchman.

This was the first book I read on Lafayette, that finally answered all my questions that grew more and more as I visited Virginia from Texas.
Then we made a trip to Colonial Williamsburg in Virginia from Texas, where we got to actually meet Lafayette. He actually looked like the man on the cover of this book, and shared exactly the same story (yet the interpreter actor did not use this book for his research).
That's saying a lot for Fritz's book, written for elementary age children.
Learn all about America's friend from France, the Marquis de Lafayette.

An informative account about the Marquis de Lafayette and his contributions to the American Revolution. It's a short book my son who is a 13 year old history buff enjoyed it. My 9 year old daughter not so much. I recommend this book for older kids.