George Washington's Teeth (bk 1) (40 pgs)

Chandra, Deborah and Madeleine Comora (2003). George washington’s teeth. Farrar Straus Giroux. New York.

Summary:
George Washington’s Teeth is a rhyming story about all the trouble George Washington had with his teeth. While the entire story might not be true it adds a bit of humor to an otherwise very sad story. This witty tale starts out at the beginning of the Revolutionary War and chronicles every tooth he lost along the way. The authors tell of his embarrassment about smiling and how he came to discover the best way to fix his rotten problem.

Author: Deborah Chandra and Madeleine Comora
Illustrator: Brock Cole
Illustrations: The illustrations correlate directly with the text and some of them were taken from previously painted scenes of the war and George Washington. The illustrations appear to be watercolor and the colors are very muted, but the illustrations are also very whimsical.
Access Features: Important Events in George Washington’s Life Timeline
Grade Level: PreK-2
Book Design: Book is square with a portrait of George Washington surrounded by horses, flags, and soldiers on the cover. End pages are royal blue and pages with text are mostly white. The illustrations are spread throughout the pages and the text usually divides the illustrations.
Writing Style: The authors use a sing-song poem to tell the story of George Washington’s teeth. The second and fourth line in each stanza rhyme. The authors use very simple language in order to make the story easy to understand and fun to read.
Curriculum: Social Studies
Classroom Use: This would be fun way to break the monotony when studying about historical figures and presents a look at George Washington that most people don’t even know about. It would also be a good inquiry project about false teeth, how they are made, and the changes the process has gone through over the years.
Standards: Social Studies-Standard 3: People, Places, and Environments; Standard 8: Science, Technology, and Society
Awards: Notable Social Studies Trade Book 2004
Author Credibility: Authors thank the Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association, National Portrait Gallery, and the Papers of the George Washington Project. They seem to have done their research and while they may not have written a completely factual story, they have created a fun story that will leave people laughing.
Related Texts: How Ben Franklin Stole the Lightning by: Rosalyn Schanzer; Abe Lincoln’s Hat by: Martha Brenner; Martin’s Big Words: The Life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. by: Doreen Rappaport; George Did It by: Suzanne Tripp Jurman; John, Paul, George, and Ben by: Lane Smith; Honest Abe by: Edith Kunhardt

Response:
I really enjoyed this book. I’ve read this before and presented it for a class. It’s a fun way to make the story of the Revolutionary War and the journey of George Washington. It’s also a memorable way to present the information in a way that children would understand and actually remember.