Historical Fiction

George Washington's Breakfast, by Jean Fritz is a great book for students. The book is about a little boy named George W. Allen who wants to know everything about George Washington. The reason for this is because he was named after George Washington and had the same birthday. He felt like he was related to George Washington and should know everything about him. George W. Allen knew almost everything about George Washington except for what he ate for breakfast. George W. Allen wanted to know so badly that he went to the school librarian for assistance. The librarian was also interested in the question and helped George W. Allen search for information. When George could not find the answer in the library books, he had his parents take him to Mount Vernon, Virginia where George Washington used to live. When he arrived to the kitchen where George used to eat, he asked the guard if he knew what George ate for breakfast. No one at the monument could answer his question so George W. Allen and his parents went back home. When George gets back, he is so mad that he marches up to the attic. George W. Allen ends up finding an old tarnished book of his grandfathers in a box. In the book, he finds George Washington's breakfast. Grandma offers to cook right away after all of his hard work researching George Washington's breakfast. This book represents several great morals. One moral in particual is to never give up. George W. Allen exemplifies this in the book by never giving up on himself until he finds what he is looking for. I would integrate this in my class during my Social Studies unit because it has a number of great facts about one of our country's most famous Presidents, George Washington.