PICTURE BOOK REVIEW: George Washington's Spectacular Spectacles by Selene Castrovilla
ABOUT THE BOOK
Did you know that George Washington had a secret? He wore glasses! While initially embarrassed by his reliance on this reading aid, Washington’s spectacles proved themselves to be nothing short of spectacular in this charming, funny–and little-known–story from American history. The Revolutionary War was over, but Washington’s officers had not received their wages from the Continental Congress in years. Afraid they would never get their money, the officers planned to storm Congress and demand it right away. Luckily, George Washington found out about the plot just in time. He delivered a passionate speech to his men, but they were unaffected. It was only when he struggled to read aloud a letter from Congress and had to put on his glasses, that they realized how much he had sacrificed for their country along with them. The officers dropped their plan and pledged their loyalty to America and to Washington. Selene Castrovilla’s carefully researched yet playful prose and Jenn Harney’s energetic, original illustrations bring George Washington’s more human side to life in this humorous but important story about true American loyalty.
REVIEW
This engaging nonfiction book shares with young readers a significant moment in U.S. history. George Washington was a strong, proud man and he always wanted to appear as such in front of his soldiers. But over time, he, like most people, started to lose his eyesight and needed glasses to read. For a long time he managed to hide it but reading papers only when alone in his office. But when he discovered his officers planning to go after Congress because of missing wages, he found himself facing an angry group of men who had no interest in listening to his speech, no matter how well prepared. In order to read the message he had received from Congress, he was forced to pull out his spectacles to read it. The sight affected the men so much that it stopped the uprising in it's tracks. The backmatter includes an author's note where Castrovilla gives more details about the events surrounding the story and how she came to tell the story in a picture book. Both a touching story and a reminder that those who helped establish the U.S. as a country were imperfect individuals who nonetheless pledged their lives and their loyalty to a cause greater than themselves. Harney's illustrations are eye-catching, and keep the story moving while helping to portray the intense emotions involved in these events. A great book for teaching a lesser known event from U.S. history in an engaging and straight-forward way. Recommended.
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