. . . If You Grew Up with George Washington

Life in the colony of Virginia in the 1730's and 1740's -- the time that George Washington was growing up -- is described in lively detail with wonderful watercolor illustrations! Food, clothing, work, games, education, news, fashion, medicine and more are all brought to life for young readers. How wonderful for children to get an idea of what kind of childhood formed the mind of our first American President.

I have several of the "If You Grew Up...." titles in my free-reading area of my sixth grade classroom. The George Washington title is one of the most-often chosen titles--probably because they are curious about our first president. This title also gives a good description of what life was like for the gentry class of Virginia in the 1740s-1760s. Students have been able to use the information to write comparison pieces about GW's life and their own. I highly recommend this title and the others in the series for both the literature and social studies classroom. Weak readers have a high interest in the subject matter; strong readers enjoy a quick read.

Although I don't have all the books in this series ("if you..."), the six that I have are so fun and interesting, that I intend to get them all asap. My three children (3-8), my husband and I LOVE them.

Outstanding look backwards in time to discover what it would have been like to grow up with George Washington. The book answers lots of questions; What kind of clothes would you wear?, What about the bathroom?, What did children do to have fun?, What would you learn in school? How did people carry their tabacco around?, Who made the laws for the colony? and many more... Loads of cheery illustrations cover the pages.