A Parade for George Washington by David A. Adler

Abstract

Reviewed by: A Parade for George Washington by David A. Adler Elizabeth Bush Adler, David A. A Parade for George Washington; illus. by John O’Brien. Holiday House, 2020 [32p] Trade ed. ISBN 9780823442522 $17.99 Reviewed from digital galleys R 5-8 yrs News arrived at Mt. Vernon that its briefly retired owner, General George Washington, [End Page 118] had been voted the first president of the United States, and his presence would be required in the capital, New York City, for the nation’s first swearing-in ceremony. “He would go there by horse and carriage. The trip would take one week,” and what a week it was. Each town he passed through had arranged celebrations, ranging from excited spectators lining the streets to arches of flowers over the roadway and girls in white dresses tossing roses. In most locales, people joined in to create mini parades, escorting the president-elect miles along toward his next stopover, culminating in the floating extravaganza that accompanied his lavishly adorned flat-bottom boat from New Jersey to New York. O’Brien’s ink and watercolor artwork glories in minute details and offers a hint of what contemporaries might have shared through carefully curated etched images (albeit colorized here); inset maps of the journey are a welcome bonus. Apart from source notes, adult bibliography, and a brief timeline, there’s no addendum to provide context to the event, but a few aptly cited details (Washington dismisses soldiers posted to guard him and appears at his swearing-in garbed in a modest brown suit) imply the inherent irony in festivities befitting a royal progress hosted by those who had so recently overthrown ties to monarchy. Listeners may cultivate their own assessment of Washington himself, but for now they will have lots of fun comparing the 2021 Inauguration with the country’s first. Copyright © 2020 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois