George Washington's Birthday

                                     A Mostly True Tale

                  By Margaret McNamara and Illustrated by Barry Blitt

This book dissipates many of the famous "rumors" associated with the life of George Washington.  Many tales have emerged overtime embellishing facts linked with Washington's childhood.  For example, many people have heard the rumor that George Washington cut down a cherry tree then truthfully admitted "It Was I that cut down the cherry tree" to his father. The book informs the reader that this rumor emerged as a result of Washington's honest and noble personality. People trusted him so much that they liked to believe that Washington would have made such an honorable confession over a minute mistake. Another famous myth associated with George Washington is the story of how he was so strong that h threw a stone across the Rappahannock River. The river that ran beside Washington's family farm was over two hundred feet wide. Therefore, it would have been impossible for him to have done such a thing. 

The book's layout includes text telling the story of the "myths" or "facts" surrounding large, medium and small illustrations (varying page to page). At the end of each short myth, McNamara includes a framed text box, written in a smaller font and different style, labeled either "Myth" of "Fact" followed by an explanation.  These informational tidbits are strategically placed off to the side or at the bottom of the page so that they don't retract from the story.  Each short story supports the theme of Washington's family "forgetting" his birthday (they plan a surprise party for him at the end of the book). McNamara cleverly uses this base-plot to create a balance between each of the stories (which ultimately lead up to his evening party). 

The Illustrations are presented in the style associated with Barry Blitt.  Blitt is a famous political cartoon artist who has frequently been criticized for his controversial images. One of the most well known controversial image was his portrayal of the Obama's on a 2008 New York Times cover (left). Many readers felt Blitt's illustration was very "anti-American." Fortunately, Blitt's illustrations in George Washington's Birthday are anything but. In fact, one could consider him to be "patriotic" for their creation. Here is a link to a story about Blitt defending his drawing for the 2008 cover: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/07/13/barry-blitt-addresses-his_n_112432.html.  What do you think?