will you sign here john hancock by jean fritz

“George the Third can read that without his spectacles!” is what history tells us he said.īy Jean Fritz. Hancock wrote his name so boldly that it entered the vernacular as a synonym for signature. Refreshing, then, to come upon this nicely executed mini‐portrait of John Hancock, whose chief claim to our Bicentennial attention is the size of his signature on the Declaration of Independence. Crowded with idealized statuary, swept by the drafts of legend and infested with humbugs, it challenges honesty at every turn. All rights reserved.The pantheon of the Founding Fathers is a daunting place. copyright ? 2000 by Penguin Putnam Books for Young Readers.

She was awarded the Regina Medal by the Catholic Library Association, presented with the Laura Ingalls Wilder Award by the American Library Association for her 'substantial and lasting contribution to children's literature,' and honored with the Knickerbocker Award for Juvenile Literature, which was presented by the New York State Library Association for her body of work.

An original and lively thinker, as well as an inspiration to children and adults, Jean Fritz is undeniably a master of her craft. Often I turn up surprises and of course I pass these on.' It is her penchant for making distant historical figures seem real that brings the characters to life and makes the biographies entertaining, informative, and filled with natural child appeal. 'Once my character and I have reached an understanding,' she explains, 'then I begin the detective work-reading old books, old letters, old newspapers, and visiting the places where my subject lived. Since then, her refreshingly informal historical biographies for children have been widely acclaimed as 'unconventional,' 'good-humored,' 'witty,' 'irrepressible,' and 'extraordinary.' In her role as biographer, Jean Fritz attempts to uncover the adventures and personalities behind each character she researches. Generally people don't bother to speak to me unless there's a good chance that I'll take them on.' Throughout almost four decades of writing about history, Jean Fritz has taken on plenty of people, starting with George Washington in The Cabin Faced West (1958). A character in history will suddenly step right out of the past and demand a book. 'The question I am most often asked,' Jean Fritz says, 'is how do I find my ideas? The answer is: I don't.

Will you sign here john hancock by jean fritz