As a child in The Bronx, we visited the Little Red Lighthouse and this story paints a great picture of progress and the way it affects our lives. We may not think we are in with the times but as the lighthouse finds out, there is a place for all of us and people for us to take care of. I first read this book when my son was in 1st grade and now I'm ordering it for his 34th birthday. We've both visited the lighthouse and of course crossed the Great Gray Bridge on our way from the city to the south where we live now.

The publication date says 1988, but I remember this book from my childhood and would recommend it to anyone with children. It is the story of a small red lighthouse that gets overshadowed by the newly built George Washington Bridge and how the lighthouse comes to terms with that. The lighthouse really exists in NYC and I grew up not far from it. If you drive north on the West Side Highway and you look towards the bottom of the GW Bridge as you approach it, there stands this brave little lighthouse. Bright red, beaming out to the whole world.

again. That's right. For all of you, like me, who loved this book as a child, the story you can share with your children is now even more wonderful. It was this book that saved the LRL from destruction half a century ago, and in september of 2002, for the first time in 55 years, the LRL is a working beacon again. See the web for news stories - the USCG moved some priorities and spare parts around, and now she shines again.

Better than ever....

Out of all the books we have read in honor of President's Day, this one stands head and shoulders above the pack. The story is superbly written and the illustrations by Michael Dooling are gorgeous. Giblin weaves from facts a story that is entertaining and educational. His writing personalizes the life of George Washington without getting too mushy for adults or too bogged down in language that children don't understand. He even debunks the myth of the cherry tree in a separate section entitled "More about George Washington". I originally borrowed this book from the library but purchased it here on Amazon to add to our personal collection. It's THAT good!

Enjoy,
Cris

For all students, this book could be helpful in learning about George Washington, but for second language learners of any age the pictures assist in making connections so that the story can be told and understood. I appreciate this book very much!

Beautifully told!Even more beautifully illustrated! Buy It!

Knowing Professor Dalzell and Mrs. Dalzell personally, I was incredibly curious to see how they blended the two seemingly connected but perhaps contrasting topics of George Washington and his home. Essentially, they were connected very successfully. The entire history of the home itself is told vividly with photographs, anecdotes, and objective descriptions of its development. Following, Washington's own personal, military, and political history is told in light of the times, and in the book's shining ability, in relation to the home itself. The Dalzell's cleverly-melded arguments and discussions leads the reader to a full knowledge of Mt. Vernon and its inspiring owner.

I openned this book expecting to read a story about a house and how it was built. I was surprised, and impressed, to discover that what went on as Mt. Vernon took form was far more interesting than I had expected. This is not so much a book about a house as it is the story of how George Washington related to the slaves on whom he relied to execute his architecture. In other words, the story here reverberates far beyond the boundaries of the plantation. It went to the heart of the republic, and it goes to the heart of this nation. Slavery is encoded in our national DNA (sorry, Jefferson). The Dalzells make it clear that it is also mortared in the wood and plaster (cut and painted to look like stone) of our national edifice. Are you tormented, or at least intrigued, that a slaveowner could style himself father of a republic dedicated to freedom? Maybe Washington was, too. Find out. Visit Mt. Vernon, and do it by reading this book.

Mount Vernon was both architecturally innovative and a true mirror of Washington's feelings and mind. He never wrote an autobiography and his diaries consist largely of farm accounts, but in Mount Vernon, the authors write, "he produced a text from which it is possible to coax a remarkably full sense of his political convictions and of how, over time, they changed." The book, George Washington's Mount Vernon, combines the public and the private sides of his life and uses the combination to enrich our understanding of both.

If you are like me, you have often wondered how our most talented novelists would see important historical characters. Gore Vidal has whetted our appetite with his novels about the first hundred years of the United States. In Aspire to the Heavens, talented mystery writer Mary Higgins Clark makes George Washington come alive as a simple man with many personal challenges in his life. Although I was familiar with the material in this book, Ms. Clark did a wonderful job of both making it more interesting and accessible by making his life into a personally focused biographical novel. As a result, I got a lot of new perspectives on my own life that I will benefit from for many years to come.

The book's title alludes to a promise that George Washington's mother asked for and received from him. She wanted him to always do his utmost. In her family, that had meant "Aspire to the Heavens." He took on that promise with her encouragement. Out of his own character, though, he decided to be the most decent man he could possibly be. That latter promise to himself is the one that this book focuses on.

The form of this book is to describe George Washington through the lens of his personal life, rather than his public accomplishments. The style reads more as though it is a novel rather than a biography, and there is certainly some literary license in the ascriptions of motives and personal thoughts. Yet, these devices work well as long as you remember not to take them too seriously and literally.

Although Washington will always seem larger than life to all Americans, he was a man who had many setbacks in his own life. Before the Revolutionary War, he was certainly not considered to be the great man most now believe him to have been.

Life was hard as a youngster. His father died when he was fairly young, and his mother carried a whip to help assert her authority over him and his siblings. She did not keep a very attractive household, which young George resented. Although she loved her son, she put him down verbally at every opportunity. Her opposition to his desire for an ocean-going career was a fortunate one for the United States and democracies everywhere, but a bitter disappointment to him at the time. George sought escape from her whenever possible, especially to the home of his half-brother at Mount Vernon (which he would eventually inherit and buy out from his sister-in-law).

An early friendship with the Fairfax family led to a long relationship with the first and greatest love of Washington's life, Sally Fairfax, his proposal to her similar-appearing sister (which was refused), as well as his interest in surveying as a career.

His mother constantly tried to discourage his military career, and complained bitterly about the risks he was taking during the colonial campaigns before the Revolutionary War. She blamed the early death of George's favorite half-brother on war-related illnesses.

It is fun to read Martha Washington referred to by her pet name of "Patsy" throughout the book. You will also read here a sensitive interpretation of Washington's frustrations as a step-father and in securing Patsy's love and attention. As you may know, the story ends tragically as both step-children die at fairly young while, while the Washingtons never have children of their own. Their step-daughter asks them to adopt two of her children after her husband dies, whom the Washingtons' raise.

The book's structure is an interesting one. The main historical thread is the aftermath of John Adams's inauguration and the Washingtons' trimphant return to Mount Vernon to farm. This development is interspaced with flashbacks of key moments in the lives of both George and Patsy.

After you have finished enjoying the book, I suggest that you evaluate your own life from the perspective of how you will be remembered as a family member and as a friend. Many people focus too much on their careers and public accomplishments. This book can help you assess the balance you have achieved in your life. All of us can learn from how George Washington came to keep silent when something upset him rather than creating a fuss that would have hurt his closest relationships. He was a fine family man and friend, as a result, as well as an inspiring, steady leader.

Show loving support for all those you care about . . . always!

I just finished reading Aspire to the Heavens for the second time. When I first discovered this true gem a few years ago, I didn't understand why it was the only Mary Higgins Clark novel left shelved at my local library during peak lending season. Admittedly I was somewhat surprised after reading Ms. Clark's introductory page stating that this was NOT a suspense novel, but rather a story about the life of George Washington. Expecting to dive into a juicy suspense - imagine my disappointment! However, after browsing over the first few pages, Ms. Clark's writing style (as always) had me immediately intrigued. This fabulous little book took us into Mr. Washington's personal life from his uncomfortable relationship with his own mother, to his lifelong infatutation with his best friend's wife, through to his spunky courtship and marriage to the wonderful and intuitive Mrs. Washington (Martha). Mary Higgins Clark taught us to KNOW George Washington, with all his leadership q! ! ualities and common sense mannerisms, allowing us to respect and admire him for the great person he was (much in the same way that he WAS perceived by his countrymen of the 1700's). This magnificent book gives us history, adventure, romance and a glimpse into a bygone era. A suspense novel it was not - but my, what a pleasant surprise! And once again, Ms. Clark's amazing writing talent managed to wrap up the novel at precisely the best possible moment, leaving me feeling like the characters were good acquaintances, yet leaving me with still another feeling - that I had gained privileged information about a truly amazing person who was not a mere piece of fiction. This is a book you will want to keep in your home library and share with the entire reading community!

ASPIRE TO THE HEAVENS was first published in the late 1960's, well before Mary Higgins Clark's meteoric success as a author of mystery/thrillers. This biographical novel breathes life into the stick figure we know as George Washington. Portrayed as a kindly and responsible man with a welcome dash of humor, ASPIRE TO THE HEAVENS covers Washington's career from rash youth to an undaunted and vital old age. Interesting light is shown on Washington's hopeless love for the beautiful Sally Fairfax, wife of his best friend, also illuminated are his difficulties with his controlling virago of a mother. After rereading this underappreciated yet gleaming work of fiction, one can almost feel regret that Mary Higgins Clark did not continue in the field of historical literature, it is to be wondered what she might have done with figures like Jefferson and Adams. ASPIRE TO THE HEAVENS is highly recommended.

Citizen Washington is not your typical historical novel. While it is held together by a single voice, it is broken up into many short perspectives that lend the story of George Washington a varied examination. At first I found this inconvenient, but once I got to know the people speaking, I welcomed them again and again as they returned to add their view of an event. The story is told without sentimentality or heroics. In fact, the battles fought (or retreated from) are described very simply and directly. It's been a long time since I studied American history, so it was refeshing to read how the Revolution was fought and won from a "novel" point of view. Citizen Washington is definitely worth a read. I found the Federalist vs. Republican debate especially helful, told, as it is, from characters near the debate.

This is an excellent historical novel about George Washington. The novel presents Washington through the eyes of many of the people who knew him, including his wife and his slaves as well as the other great men of the day. It is a good approach for describing a very complex man with many sides.

The book focuses primarily on Washington's life up until the time he became President. The book does cover his entire life, but his years as President are skimpy by comparison to the rest of his life. The author's interest is more on who Washington was as a man than on his public accomplishments. Focusing on his formative years provides more insight into his character.

Nevertheless, the novel demonstrates the truly great accomplishments Washington made to American history. Without Washington, we would not have won the Revolutionary War: he provided the military strategy, the determination, and the leadership needed to win. Without Washington, we would not have become a country: he provided the leadership the 13 colonies needed to come together as a union. Without Washington, we would not have become a democracy: he resisted efforts to anoint him king, and he voluntarily relinquished power--first as commanding general who won the War of Independence, and later as the nation's first President.

Washington was an admirable person, and deserves the adulation the nation gave him then and since. But of course he had his flaws, and Citizen Washington conveys them, particularly via the characters in the novel who did not idolize him. Such was Washington's force of personality, though, that even his detractors were in awe of him.

This novel is particularly valuable as an adjunct to a nonfiction account of Washington's life, the best of which is James Thomas Flexner's Washington: The Indispensable Man.

This novel was one of the most informative books I have ever read. Not only did we get a run-down on the usual suspects of the era, Jefferson, Adams, and Washington, but the insight gained on the characters which history misses sometimes, like Alexander Hamilton, Henry Knox and Martha Washington made the book very hard to put down. The way Martin intermingles fictional and non-fictional characters is a work of genius. This novel is a fast-paced, fast-reading tale which NEVER bogs the reader down with an endless string of statistics and facts. The story is always the most important part of the book, and Martin hit a home run spinning this tale. I would recommend this novel, obviously to any Martin fans, but also to anyone who has wondered what historical fiction is like. I can not wait for his next novel!!!!

Nurseryman and author Jeffrey Meyer started the project called America's Famous and Historic Trees, wherein said trees are rescued for posterity through seed propagation. Seventeen specimens are discussed, each featured in a chapter that relates the tree's historic significance, botanical description and instructions for propagation and placement of the tree. There is one color photograph of each of the seventeen trees, with many small black-and-white photos and drawings. Initially I was disappointed that the book did not take more pains to represent these trees more lovingly with good color photography, but the inspiration is in the text and the companion project, and one is struck by the brilliant simplicity of Meyer's idea for preserving these lovely old giants.

What a thrill to find Jeff Meyer's book at Amazon and Barnes& Noble! I had no idea he was working on one - and one so comprehensive as this. I knew he was extremely involved in the historic tree/seed program and research. There is also a very interesting documentary on this subject that Jeff appeared in and advised on, which was aired on PBS this year. His mother, Joanne, has been a strong influence on Jeff in this field. She is a tireless member of The Garden Club of America and, by her efforts, raised the conciousness of many.This book is a fine explanation of all the work that has been done to preserve history, as well as to make us more aware of how important beautiful trees are to our quality of life on this planet. The photography is marvellous and the book is a wonderful read, as well as a great coffee table book for just a quick pickup. We all love a "picture book", don't we?

Here is a book that combines a love of trees with famous American individuals to make an outstanding addition to any book collection. The author, Jeffrey Meyer, gives an account of 17 of the most noted trees and the historic persons associated with them. From the Indian (Comanche) Marker Pecan or George Washington Tulip Poplar to John F. Kennedy=s Post Oak or Elvis Presley=s Pin Oak, Meyer goes through pages of American history to pick out some the most significant figures of the time (Patrick Henry, Lewis and Clark, Johnny Appleseed, Frederick Douglass, Wyatt Earp, etc) and the trees (Osage Orange, Cottonwood, Rambo Apple, White Oak, Black Walnut, etc) that meant so much to them. In so doing, he provides the reader with a fine book, easy to read, beautifully published, with magnificent black/white and color photos and illustrations, and sidebars on how and where to grow the particular tree. As a idea and as a published work, America=s Historic Trees ranks in the top five per cent of books I would urge all to read and enjoy.

I thought I knew my American history, but I was astounded by what I learned from this book that teaches, but reads like a novel. Ms Bryant has done some fascinating work researching her family's journey from the Bushfield plantation of 1785 through the Civil War and race riots in Chicago in 1919. You'll find much of this is mysteriously missing from our current high school history curriculum. Woven throughout the book is the thread of this family's strength fueled by their courage and commitment to place "family" above all else. Although sure to stir some controversy, this story needed to be told.

The author takes you on a trip through history in a way you've never imagined - opening new doors with new interpretations and making the reader speculate as to the paternity of a mulatto man named West Ford. Was this man the son of George Washington? After reading this fascinating book I can say, YES HE WAS!
I Cannot Tell a Lie is a deeply affecting story and I found myself moved by the plight of this courageous family as they struggled through two centuries to maintain their secret legacy throughout American history's most insensitive times.
The characters are vivid and their story will haunt you for weeks after you've turned the last page. I can't wait for a movie to be made.

Though touted as a "novel," the back matter of this book demonstrates that this author did some serious research in putting together "I Cannot Tell a Lie." This extensive saga gives the reader a wrenching, personal tour through the victories and heartaches of one family - who spent 200 years in the shadow of a secret that can - and will - change the way the world views American history. There is much to be learned from this fascinating book, aside from the astonishing revelation that the blood of our first national hero lives on in an African American family. The book gives us a whole new set of heros - in the form of courageous, lively people of color, and of mixed race - who have been omitted from our texts. This is a generous gift to America and the author is to be applauded. Read this book if you're ready to hear the truth about what America is, and should be, all about.

Plunkitt was a king in a world that needed benevolent despots. In a place like turn of the century of New York before Keynesian economics and the Welfare State, Tammany was the only relief the poor knew. Plunkitt reveals with refreshing honesty the seemingly rough and coarse manner with which one needed to play the game of politics in his town. However, one must look at it in context. This was a different time from our own, and the reader must imagine whether a person of Plunkitt's demeanor can last in the information age political world. Then again, the book also illustrates how many of the problems Tammany had still exist today.

I originally read this book in undergraduate school as Political Science major, and had to go back and find a copy because of the profound affect it had on my psyche. George Washington Plunkitt was a "stereotypical" politician. You know, the one who says what he needs to say to get elected; but once there does what's necessary for his party.

Comparing his comments to the actions of present day politicians, I don't think there are many differences. Everyone does a little grafting and civil servants are still "civil servants." Understood?

As with any politician, Plunkitt "seen (his) opportunities and (he) took 'em." This is a must for anyone interested in any realm of politics.

I first read this highly informative, often hilarious book for Intro to Political Science back in college. In this short tome are pearls of wisdom about politics and human nature still relevant 100 years later. Plunkitt, high atop his regular boot-black stand in NYC, declaims to his biographer, Riordan, a life spent in the political machine known as Tammany Hall, with such disarming honesty that is nearly non-existent today. Plunkitt's diatribes on "honest graft vs. dishonest graft," "Brooklynites Natural-Born Hayseeds," and the evils of civil service exams are outright hilarious. I highly recommend this book to anyone with even a passing interest in politics.

This book is wonderful and engaging. It is about a little boy, George W. Allen who shares his name and his birthday with George Washington. He knows many facts about George W. but he wants to know more. One day he decides he wants to know what George W. had for breakfast and the learning adventure begins!! I read it to my boys 6 and 4 and they loved it. My sons enjoyed the facts about George W. like: he had two horses named Nelson and Blueskin. There were many "fun facts" such as this in the book. I loved it because in addition to learning about George W., it shows children different ways to search for information. George Allen first goes to the library from there to the card catalog, and then the biographies. Then his family took a trip to Washington D.C., and to George Washington's home in Virginia. It's a great addition to any family library.

You have the wrong illustrator listed. The illustration on the cover is by Tomie dePaola and you have Paul Galdone listed.

George Allen feels related to George Washington because they share a name and a birthday. He knows many facts about the first president but George Allen wants to know what Washington ate for his breakfast. His detemination to succeed makes the book an interesting tour through history. We learn many facts about Washington and also the rewards of perseverance.

Well, if you have a young reader who is looking for a book about the Father of Our Country that is out of the ordinary, tell them to look no farther than "George Washington's Cows." By the end of this collection of humorous rhymes about the rather strange animals at George Washington's Mount Vernon farm the future President is standing with his head in hand, sighing, and complaining "My cows wear dresses, my pigs wear wigs, and my sheep are more learned than me." At least the pigs help out around the house, which is more than can be said for those smart sheep. David Small must have a little Jonathan Swift in him, for this is not exactly a reverential portrait of George Washington, who might have been first in war and first in peace but who takes a back seat to the animals in this cute little volume (I like the wicked little smiles on the pigs the best). However, I think parents will appreciate the book's final punch line a lot more than the young readers for who this work is intended.

Have you ever wondered why George Washington left Mount Vernon and became the father of our country? Award winning author and illustrator, David Small, let's you in on that little well-kept secret. It all started with his cows. They wouldn't give milk unless they could live upstairs in their own room with silk bedding, dress in lavender gowns, eat scones and jam and wear perfume. Then there were the hogs. They thought they were maids and butlers, doing chores, filling in for sick servants and serving meals. And, when it came to genius, Washington's flock of sheep were unrivaled. It all became to much for him, so he gave up the farm, crossed the Delaware and went into politics. Told with creativity and great humor, Mr Small's wonderful rhyming text is complimented by his detailed, expressive watercolor artwork and youngsters will laugh out loud as they see cows, lazing about in bed, pigs in wigs serving dinner and sheep in caps and gowns teaching lessons to Washington's guests. This is a delightful, silly, witty picture book that can be enjoyed by children of all ages and makes a wonderful addition to all home libraries.

David Small is a wonderfully imaginative author. *Fenwick's Suit*, *Imogene's Antlers*, and *Paper John* by Small are also terrific children's books, but this one is just hilarious. My four-year-old daughter nearly fell off my lap laughing at the pictures of the pigs in their powdered wigs, and my eight-year-old son appreciated the wry humor. Few children's books are illustrated as beautifully as this one, and the rhyme and rhythm are delightful. A picture book not to be missed.