George Washington's Teeth - by Deborah Chandra & Madeleine Comora (Paperback)

About the Book

Book Synopsis

In this reverentially funny tale from Deborah Chandra written in verse and based on Washington's letters, diaries, and other historical records, readers will find out what really happened as they follow the trail of lost teeth to complete tooflessness.

From battling toothaches while fighting the British, to having rotten teeth removed by his dentists, the Father of His Country suffered all his life with tooth problems. Yet, contrary to popular belief, he never had a set of wooden teeth. Starting at the age of twenty-four, George Washington lost on average a tooth a year, and by the time he was elected president, he had only two left!

Illustrated in watercolors with subtle humor by Brock Cole, George Washington's Teeth is followed by a four-page time line featuring reproduced period portraits of Washington.

Review Quotes

"A highly palatable historical morsel." --Publishers Weekly, Starred Review

"This accurate and intriguing slice of history should find a place in any elementary school library." --School Library Journal, Starred Review

". . . breezy, sympathetic, carefully researched vignette . . . [one] that will have readers feeling the great man's pain--and never looking at his painted visage the same way again." --Kirkus Reviews, Starred Review

"Illustrator Cole is at his absolute best here, totally at ease with the human gesture and expression. . . . This is history for youngsters that will stick; it's wild and fun and factual, without a trace of mockery." --Booklist, Starred Review

"[A] carefully researched, very funny, charmingly illustrated picture book that works to humanize a larger-than-life historical figure and in turn, history itself. Brilliant!" --Amazon.com

About the Author

Deborah Chandra's previous children's books include A is for Amos, which Publishers Weekly called "a charmer" in a starred review. She lives in Altadena, California.

Madeleine Comora is an author and poet who lives in Glendale, California.

Brock Cole is the author and/or illustrator of many books, including the picture books Buttons, a Boston Globe-Horn Book Honor Book, and Larky Mavis. His newest picture book, Good Enough to Eat, will be released in Fall 2008 by FSG. He lives in Buffalo, New York.