George Washington and the General's Dog (Step-Into-Reading, Step 3)

Love this true story! Its really cool.

I must admit, my kindergartener and I are great fans of the Step Into Reading series of books. Since my daughter had completed the Step 2 books in the Step Into Reading series of books, I decided to go ahead and purchase the Step 3 books. I was a bit hesitant because I noticed there is quite a big leap between the Step 2 and Step 3 books, especially in terms of vocabulary and sentence structure. The vocabulary is more advanced with higher order words, and the sentences are longer. I was also concerned that my daughter might not like the topics which seemed to be more 'academic' with history-based stories. My worries were unfounded. She loves the books and is reading them with very little help from me (and I enjoy listening to the stories!) These books are excellent for building children's reading skills as well as increasing their confidence in reading. Once you've completed the Step 1 and Step 2 books (I would advise proceeding level by level), the Step 3 books are not as daunting as they might first appear. In "George Washington and the General's Dog", young readers are introduced to our first President. Who knew Washington was such a great animal lover, and owned 36 dogs in his lifetime? The illustrations enhance the reading experience and will motivate visual learners to want to read. I can't recommend these books highly enough - they are great for building reading skills, and also educational. This book is a great introduction to history, and I also came up with a series of short comprehension questions based on the story in this book so as to hone my daughter's comprehension skills (e.g. "What was so special about George Washington?", "Can you name at least one of Washington's dogs?", "Who did the Americans fight?" etc.). These books are not only great intermediate readers but might also inculcate in children a great love of history.

George Washington and the General's Dog is a delightful little reader. It will appeal to any small child but if your mission is to find a book that will appeal to a boy then this story should definitely fit the criteria. This book is full of great little nuggets of History about the General that will make everyone smile. And, it is a great way to introduce a small child about the American Revolutionary War too. This is a paperback book. The size is approximately 9 inches in length x 6 inches wide. It is a Step 3 Reader which is for Grade 1 through 3rd. It is 48 pages in length with colorful illustrations on every page. A snippet of text from the book, "People in England found out about George's good deed. The English still wanted to beat George and win the war. But now they respected him. Some English people even liked him. They had never heard a story of such great kindness between enemies." (Page 37, Paperback) For the parent, on the last page, it has a copy of the actual letter sent to General Howe. It reads, "General Washington's compliment to General Howe, does himself to the pleasure to return him a Dog, which accidentially fell into his hands, and by the inscription on the collar, appears to belong to General Howe." A Perfect book for any child's library!

We love the Step into Reading Level 3 books! My daughter is 4 and we’ve been reading lots of biographies in this series. They’re very well written - enough information to hold their attention but not too overwhelming.

My tween daughter is obsessed with the Broadway show, Hamilton. She's constantly singing it, which peaked my 5.5yo son's interest in learning more about the American Revolution and our Founding Fathers as well. I was thrilled to find a book that is at his independent/advanced reading level for him to engage in. This was such an adorable story that we'd never heard before, really showcasing the admirable George Washington's character. It brought up a great discussion: Would you return something to an "enemy" ? My daughter was especially thrilled to see a little mention of her favorite, Lafayette, too! The illustrations were cute and fun. We liked this book so much, I have since purchased more books in this series (Alexander Hamilton, Thomas Jefferson & Benjamin Franklin.)

My second grader said he liked this book. Brought it to school to read as his free read book and enjoyed it and learned something, too! These books are fun reads while being informative. Would recommend this series of books to anyone with a child that loves to learn about historical events in a way that interests them.

Great kid’s book! And based on a true story. Perfect for the local loaner library!

Book for my son. It arrived in good condition and on time.