McNamara, Margaret. (2012). George Washington’s Birthday: A mostly true tale. New York: Schwartz & Wade Books.

This fun, picture book is about George Washington. It begins with his childhood, on his 7^th birthday. His day is normal with nothing special about it. George still had to eat breakfast, watch his sister, go to school, help his father, do chores, get into trouble, wash himself, and have dinner. He is sad because he does not think that anyone remembered his birthday, but he soon learns that his family had a celebratory dinner for his special day. Each page has a little fact in small print about George Washington as well. This book should have won the Young Hoosier Books Award because of its creativity and engagement. The storyline within this book is clever and amusing. Children can easily relate to a former president of the United States, which is a hard relation to create. The ironic jokes within the text provide humor as well, and I believe it gives students hope. For example, his math teacher told him that he would never amount to anything, yet he became our first president. In addition, he thought no one would remember his birthday, yet we honor it every February 22^nd. Finally, the engagement of the pictures and the small fact texts creates a unique form of children’s literature that all young students should be able to enjoy!

Book Cover