George vs. George: The American Revolution As Seen from Both Sides by Rosalyn Schanzer

George vs. George: The American Revolution As Seen from Both Sides Reviews

• 
  Shannon Clark

  Let me say this first. I originally thought this was a "short" picture book. The kind I could read to my 5th graders in one sitting. Well, that wouldn't be possible. It is PACKED with information. Which is a good thing. :)
  
  I loved this book!! I'm thinking I can read it to my kids over the entire unit on the American Revolution, a little bit each day. If magic fairies existed I would wish for a class set of this book!! Imagine the possibilities. We would never have to open that history book. Wink-wink. :)
  
  If you are interested in history you need to read this book.
  
  If you like to read picture books you need to read this book.
  
  If you like to read you need to read this book.
  
  Just read the book. :)
  
  
• 
  Tori (Book Chick)

  This looks just like a "kid's" book, but it's packed with info. We used it for homeschool as we studied the Revolutionary war. It gave info from both sides, and kept my children's interest, as well as my own.
• 
  HistoryGirl

  When I first saw this book, I knew it looked good. After having read it, I can completely say that I was not disappointed.
  It was an unbiased view of the American War for Independence, focusing on the two leaders of each side--ironically both named "George".
  One thing that I especially appreciated was that there are a LOT of actual quotes used in the book. I think that is a vital thing for children to hear about history in the actual words of those who lived it!
  I look forward to using this book in the future to help kids understand the events of the War for Independence.
  Very well done.
  There was a few things I didn't appreciate. One of them was that towards the end of the book, the author is telling about what became of both Georges after the war. She says in regard to George III that he was "No villain." And also that although many view him as being a tyrant, he wasn't.
  Ok...that, in my opinion, was not unbiased like the author claims to be. That is not fact, but rather opinion. I don't mind reading books that are the author's opinions on matters. Everyone should have that freedom of opinion.
  However this book was supposed to be an unbiased view of both Georges and I don't think that was an example of that.
• 
  Jess Combs

  I really like getting a perspective of opposite sides,but it seemed a bit rushed at times. My daughter also felt like she didn't get enough information about certain events. We ended up supplementing with a book about George Washington and another about King George
• 
  superawesomekt

  This is quite dense but an excellent summary of the American revolution without the mythology. Highly recommended!
• 
  Erin Odom

  I learned more about the American Revolution from this book than I did in all of high school and college history classes!
• 
  Rae

  This is a jam-packed look at the Brits and the colonists during the Revolutionary period. Geared for younger readers, but I learned quite a bit. There are always at least two sides to every story.
• 
  Jordan

  I teach college-level history and, with a baby due any day, I was browsing Barnes & Noble’s children’s history section when I came across this book. It’s a wonderful surprise, doing in under 60 beautifully illustrated pages what I spend semesters trying to do in my US History classes.
  
  Rosalyn Schanzer’s George vs. George aims to present both sides of the Revolutionary War and does a wonderful job. The two Georges of the title are George Washington and King George III, and the book begins by comparing and contrasting them, humanizing both in the process. The two Georges are also the book’s way in to describing the times and places in which they lived and the roles they played in American history.
  
  What you won’t find in this book are stories about cherry trees or wooden teeth or the bloody tyrant King George. Instead, Schanzer presents the reader with two principled people on opposing sides of a divisive issue, and she lays out simply how they arrived at their positions and why. Along the way she gives a brief history of the growing crisis in the colonies, the War for Independence, the Declaration, and what came after—for both Georges. The Revolutionary era has been romanticized unlike any other, and Schanzer—in an age-appropriate way—strips away a lot of the gloss and shows the heroism and brutality of both sides. There were plenty of both.
  
  Schanzer’s text is informative and her illustrations are wonderful. They range from two-page battle scenes, of which the best is probably the Lexington and Concord spread, to what might be called infographics, laying out with simple, engaging pictures the way the British and colonial governments worked, what kind of soldiers fought in both armies, and so forth. Sprinkled throughout are drawings of other figures of the period with their perspectives on events given in their own words. And these are not limited to obvious movers and shakers like Jefferson and Franklin but include others like Samuel Johnson, Patrick Henry, much-dehumanized British generals like Gage and Howe, and ordinary men and women from both sides.
  
  The versions of Revolutionary history many of us grew up with were oversimplified, and detrimentally so. The real story in all its complexity is much more interesting, and George vs. George is an ideal introduction to a rich and important part of our past.
  
  Highly recommended.
• 
  Alice

  I love history, and I wanted to know more about the Georges and I guess I did, but I expected more!
  This is perfect for a 5th Grade American History class and that is who it is written for, so I should crow to loud!.
  But- it does make me want to know more about the Georges, so I need to find a grown up George vs George book.
  ANY Recommendations!?
• 
  Margaret Chind

  This is an excellent book! There is a full verbose text, conversation bubbles, and vibrantly detailed illustrations. There is so much information to be absorbed and devil's advocate for both sides of the debate. There was no good side vs. the bad side, but the good and evil in two men of the same name and the peoples that followed them. We read this on the recommendation of Sonlight Curriculum Kindergarten (2020) Exploring American History and while we read it faster than the schedule suggested, I do suggest you take more than a day or two to read it because there is so much information. I especially enjoyed as I was reading that even my oldest student (11.5 working through Introduction to American History part 1) was able to recognize the history repeats itself and relate these acts and moments of the Revolutionary War to the modern era and said without skipping a beat, well that sounds like Ant!fa tactics... Imagine a band of renegades dressing up as Patriots and causing destruction to cause blame in the wrong place. I own a copy of this book.
• 
  Jodi

  An interesting book. Definitely promotes the economic view of American history and sources were books written in the 1960s and later as opposed to original source documents. They did use original sources for quotations.
  
  Illustrations were colorful, and we were fascinated by the "two sides to the story," but as it was coming from a point of historical revisionism, we can't believe everything we read. I will be looking for history books older than 1930s so that we can read history documented by historians committed to portraying the true Providential view of American history.
  
  An incredibly helpful and interesting series on American history is David Barton's American Heritage DVD collection.
  https://shop.wallbuilders.com/the-ame...
• 
  Dolly

  This is a good book that outlines the two sides of the Revolutionary War. The information is interesting and the illustrations complement the narrative nicely. My only complaint is that the level of detail is too large to keep the interest of younger children. Even though our girls were interested in the topic and willing to listen for a long time, it took us forever to finish this book. Still, it's a good history lesson and I learned a bit by reading it, too. Recommend for middle school-age children.
• 
  Karen

  I bought this book for my fourth-grade son, but the book looked so darn intriguing I had to read it first.
  
  I spend five years, from age 10 to age 15, living in England. In History class in England, we covered the "Rebellion" in about a day. It meant the loss of some colonies with a mostly criminal element to the British. Of course, to the Americans, it was the forming of a new country -- our country.
  
  This book doesn't romanticize the war or gloss over some of the barbaric performed by both sides. It does show Washington as a hero, but it also shows the humanity of George III.
  
  
• 
  Cheryl

  [4.0]
  
  Some children's books don't have enough information but this one was perfect. Beautiful book.
  
  The only thing I would've liked to see would've been some real pictures of uniforms, weapons, documents . . . It would've rounded it off nicely.
• 
  Sue Poduska

  Detailed information about life in the late 1700s.
• 
  Bookbag_Betty

  
  

  
  
  -A Leader, Once Convinced That A Particular Course of Action Is The Right One, Must Be Undaunted When The Going Gets Tough.
  
  At First Glance
  A Look At The Life Of King George & His Countrymen
  A Look At The Life Of George Washington & His Countrymen
  How Government Worked In England
  How Government Worked In America
  The Trouble With Taxes 1764-1770
  A Temptest Over Tea 1770-1774
  George Vs, George 1774-1775
  The Shot Heard Round The World
  British Forces
  Rebel Forces
  A New Nation 1776
  The Tides Of War 1776-1783
  The Final Battle
  No Kings For America
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  TRAVELED TO // England, The Colonies, Virginia,
  MET ALONG THE WAY // King George III, George Washington
• 
  Heather

  I enjoyed this book as an adult. I learned quite a bit from it.
  
  The timeline occasionally confused me, but after analyzing the structure, I see why the author constructed it the way she did.
  
  I think this story is more from the American viewpoint. It only really gets to the British viewpoint in the Afterword.
  
  The beginning of the book has a lot of vocabulary that must be explained. After about halfway through, it gets much easier to comprehend. Preteaching vocabulary will be a must.
  
  I like the opposing viewpoints. As Americans, we vilify King George III, but this book shows us how every story has two sides.
  
  I found the Acknowledgement, Bibliography, Quote Sources, and index pages in the back very difficult to read because of the color of the background.
  
  I enjoyed the illustrations, and I think they aid in comprehension quite a bit.
• 
  Valerie McEnroe

  This book is a must for every upper elementary library. I love how it structures the story of the American revolution through the perspectives of both George Washington and King George. Here's a break down of the topics.
  *Overview of both Georges
  *Overview of both governments
  *Problem with all the taxes
  *Boston Tea Party
  *Shot heard around the world (Lexington and Concord)
  *British vs. rebel soldiers (uniforms)
  *Declaration of Independence
  *Brief overview of the battles
  *Surrender at Yorktown
  *Final years of both Georges
  
  It's the right length for kids, while still covering the entire conflict. They will appreciate the color illustrations. The more I read about the American Revolution, the more amazed I am that the Americans won.
  
  
• 
  Heather

  Really 3.5. As a picture book, it is a much longer read than most. This isn't a good or bad thing; it just bears mentioning. The premise of pitting the two George's against each other in a head to head is what initially drew me in, but the premise isn't strongly carried throughout the text. Sometimes it shows up well, amd sometimes hardly at all. The cartoon illustrations complete with word bubbles brought my 9 and 8 year old sons into the story. It was just enough to engage them but not enough to be hinder the narrative. As a 38 year old, I learned quite a few things from this book. At some points it read less "living book" and more "textbook" which is most of the reason why I didn't rate it higher.
• 
  Kim

  A parent group in a nearby school district targeted this book in part because “teaching about the darker aspects of racism in United States history isn't appropriate in elementary grades.” A textbook committee in the school district allowed the book to continue being used for now, but cautioned about “inflammatory” words and suggested “instructional adjustments” for this book. Interesting terminology along the path to book banning.
  
  My take: I’m really confused about what they objected to. This book is packed with information, some of which I have to admit I wasn’t that familiar with myself. Regardless, it seems like a great and very informative book and I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it.
• 
  M

  Excellent book about both King George and George Washington. I had just finished reading "His Excellency: George Washington" before this book, and I found this a nice review, mostly of the pre-Revoluation and the Revolution, as that is the time when the two Georges were on the scene together. It is a short book written for upper grade school children, but the information was accurate and good. It covered both sides--British and American--fairly well. However, I do feel like it covered George III more well-rounded than Washington. Washington was left more of an icon in this book. The quotes factual and excellent. The illustrations were fun.