Jean Fritz | Author | LibraryThing

About the Author

Jean Fritz was born in Hankow, China on November 16, 1915. She received a bachelor's degree in English from Wheaton College in 1937. She wrote picture books and historical fiction before focusing on historical nonfiction. Her first book, Bunny Hopewell's First Spring, was published in 1954. Her show more other books included And Then What Happened, Paul Revere?; Will You Sign Here, John Hancock?; Can't You Make Them Behave, King George?; Shh! We're Writing the Constitution; Traitor: The Case of Benedict Arnold; Where Do You Think You're Going, Christopher Columbus?; Who's That Stepping on Plymouth Rock?; The Double Life of Pocahontas; and George Washington's Mother. Homesick: My Own Story, a collection of linked narratives, traces her life from her girlhood in China to her longed-for yet uneasy passage to America. It won a National Book Award and was named a Newbery Honor Book. She received the Regina Medal by the Catholic Library Association, the National Humanities Medal, and the Laura Ingalls Wilder Award and the Knickerbocker Award for Juvenile Literature for her body of work. She died on May 14, 2017 at the age of 101. (Bowker Author Biography) show less

Includes the name: Jean Fritz

Series

Unforgettable Americans

Bringing History to Life

Works by Jean Fritz

Popular Recent

And Then What Happened, Paul Revere? (1973) 2,867 copies

Shh! We're Writing the Constitution (1987) 2,666 copies

The Cabin Faced West (1958) 2,328 copies

What's the Big Idea, Ben Franklin? (1976) 2,099 copies

Homesick: My Own Story (1982) 1,657 copies

Can't You Make Them Behave, King George? (1977) 1,518 copies

George Washington's Breakfast (1969) 1,448 copies

Bully for You, Teddy Roosevelt! (Unforgettable Americans) (1991) 1,348 copies

Will You Sign Here, John Hancock? (1976) 1,245 copies

The Double Life of Pocahontas (1983) 1,205 copies

Why Don't You Get a Horse, Sam Adams? (1900) 1,178 copies

Where Was Patrick Henry on the 29th of May? (1975) 1,170 copies

The Great Little Madison (1989) 1,140 copies

Around the World in a Hundred Years: From Henry the Navigator to Magellan (1994) 1,120 copies

Just a Few Words, Mr. Lincoln: The Story of the Gettysburg Address (1709) 963 copies

You Want Women to Vote, Lizzie Stanton? (1995) 944 copies

Traitor: The Case of Benedict Arnold (1981) 832 copies

George Washington's Mother (1992) 791 copies

Brady (1960) 760 copies

Who's That Stepping on Plymouth Rock? (1975) 731 copies

Where Do You Think You're Going, Christopher Columbus? (1980) 658 copies

Early Thunder (1967) 540 copies

Harriet Beecher Stowe and the Beecher Preachers (1994) 447 copies

Make Way for Sam Houston (1751) 417 copies

Why Not Lafayette? (1999) 404 copies

Stonewall (1979) 397 copies

Leonardo's Horse (2001) 395 copies

Alexander Hamilton: The Outsider (2011) 275 copies

Champion Dog Prince Tom (1958) 190 copies

Fish Head (1951) 185 copies

The Lost Colony Of Roanoke (2004) 184 copies

The World in 1492 (1992) 184 copies

Brendan the Navigator (1674) 175 copies

China's Long March (1988) 174 copies

Man Who Loved Books (1981) 116 copies

Who's Saying What in Jamestown, Thomas Savage? (2007) 110 copies

China Homecoming (1985) 86 copies

The Good Giants and the Bad Pukwudgies (1982) 78 copies

I, Adam (1963) 49 copies

The Great Adventures of Christopher Columbus : A Pop-up Book (1992) 31 copies

Surprising Myself (1992) 26 copies

San Francisco (1962) 26 copies

The secret diary of Jeb & Abigail: Growing up in America, 1776-1783 (1976) 23 copies

How to Read a Rabbit (1959) 22 copies

The Animals of Doctor Schweitzer (1958) 18 copies

So This Is Spring (1954) 16 copies

Magic to burn (1964) 16 copies

Bunny Hopwell's First Spring (1954) 15 copies

Growing Up [A Rand McNally Elf Book] (1956) 13 copies

Cast for a revolution;: Some American friends and enemies, 1728-1814 (1972) 11 copies

Back to early Cape Cod: A story guide for young readers (1981) 5 copies

A Lesson Plan Book for and Then What Happened, Paul Revere (1990) 4 copies

121 Pudding Street (1955) 4 copies

Appearances 3 copies

The Train (1965) 2 copies

The Late Spring. (1957) 2 copies

Just a few words Mr. Lincoln ( The story of the Gettysburg address) 1 copy

Will you Sign Here John Hancock 1 copy

Multicultural Pack : Number the Stars; Julie of the Wolves; Bud Not Buddy; the House on Mango Street; Finding Miracles… (2009) 1 copy

Who’s That Stepping on Plymouth Rock? 1 copy

What's the Big Idea, Ben Franklin? 1 copy

Når man bliver stor 1 copy

Peter Langohrs erster Frühling 1 copy

No title 1 copy

Early Thunder 1 copy

Stories for Thanksgiving: Who's That Stepping on Plymouth Rock?, the Pilgrims of Plimoth, Giving Thanks (Playaway… (2010) 1 copy

Set of 4 United States History Books by Jean Fritz (Who's Stepping on Plymouth Rock ~ Shh! We're Writing the… (1975) 1 copy

Surprise Party (1965) 1 copy

Lot of Six Jean Fritz Books About American History's Founding Fathers (1950) 1 copy

Tap, tap, lion---1, 2, 3 1 copy

Who Was Thomas Jefferson 1 copy

Hurrah for Jonathan! 1 copy

Harriet Beacher Stowe and the Beecher Preachers 1 copy

Work Explorer

Associated Works

The Perilous Road (1958) — Introduction — 974 copies

The Big Book for Peace (1990) — Contributor — 798 copies

Flight (1991) — Introduction — 416 copies

Winter Danger (1954) — Introduction — 175 copies

The Buffalo Knife (1952) — Introduction — 169 copies

Flight; Make it Work! (1995) — Introduction — 146 copies

Flaming Arrows (1813) — Introduction — 109 copies

Worlds of Childhood: The Art and Craft of Writing for Children (1990) — Contributor — 86 copies

Open Your Eyes: Extraordinary Experiences in Faraway Places (2003) — Contributor — 41 copies

Cricket Magazine, Vol. 5, No. 7, March 1978 (1978) — Contributor — 5 copies

Cricket Magazine, Vol. 5, No. 8, April 1978 (1978) — Contributor — 5 copies

Cricket Magazine, Vol. 3, No. 11, July 1976 (1976) — Contributor — 3 copies

Tagged

18th century (315) 19th century (156) America (261) American (139) American history (1,107) American Revolution (516) Benjamin Franklin (106) biographies (238) biography (1,939) chapter book (147) children (266) children's (403) children's literature (141) China (151) Civil War (213) colonial (117) Constitution (129) explorers (166) fiction (373) Founding Fathers (92) George Washington (156) historical fiction (737) history (2,122) HmSch (95) Jean Fritz (104) juvenile (121) Newbery Honor (113) non-fiction (1,027) own (85) Paul Revere (115) picture book (312) presidents (211) revolution (100) Revolutionary War (386) social studies (241) Sonlight (211) to-read (84) TOG (98) US history (303) USA (172)

Common Knowledge

Legal name: Fritz, Jean Guttery
Other names: Fritz, Jean
Birthdate: 1915-11-16
Date of death: 2017-05-14
Gender: female
Nationality: USA (naturalized)
Birthplace: Hankow, China
Place of death: Sleepy Hollow, New York, USA
Places of residence: Hankow, China
West Hartford, Connecticut, USA
Dobbs Ferry, New York, USA
Sleepy Hollow, New York, USA
Education: Wheaton College, Massachusetts (1937)
Occupations: children's book author
biographer
Awards and honors: Laura Ingalls Wilder Medal (1986)
National Humanities Medal (2003)
May Hill Arbuthnot Lecturer (1976)
Regina Medal (1985)
Short biography: Born Jean Guttery, she was the daughter of missionaries.

Members

Discussions

Kids’ chapter book set in China in Name that Book (October 2018)

Children's chapter book about kid on the Yangtze in Name that Book (February 2013)

Reviews

Leonardo's Horse by Jean Fritz

I truly enjoyed this historical non-fiction book about the massive efforts, time, planning and finances it took to create the bronze horse that Leonardo so desperately desired to place in Milan. There is a lot of history presented in a way that older elementary and middle school students could appreciate. It would definitely be appropriate for teaching an art OR history lesson. In fact, this book would lend itself well across the curriculum for other areas, such as Science, for STEM education regarding the engineering of the actual horse statue itself. This story is not dry. There is a lot of emotion portrayed in the stories of all who helped to create Leonardo's dream to come true.… (more)

Flagged

doehlberg63 | 9 other reviews | Dec 2, 2023 |

George Washington's Breakfast by Jean Fritz

George Washington Allen, a boy who never gives up until he finds out what he wants to know, is determined to learn all there is to know about his namesake, including what the first president ate for breakfast!

Flagged

PlumfieldCH | 9 other reviews | Nov 29, 2023 |

Brendan the Navigator by Jean Fritz

Only 32 pages long, but clever, witty, and incisive. I particularly like the discussion of the evidence for the Brendan voyage and how, until 1960, the evidence for the Leif Ericsson voyage was no more than traditional tales, until the archaeological discoveries. The illustrations are rather clever, and obviously inspired by the Irish decorated manuscripts, of which the most famous is the book of Kells.

Flagged

themulhern | 1 other review | Oct 27, 2023 |

George Washington's Mother by Jean Fritz

Everyone has a mother. Even George Washington. But Mary Washington is nothing like you'd think! She hates to dress up. And she always thinks she knows what's best for George. After all, she's his mother! You can read more about her in this true story by Jean Fritz.

Flagged

PlumfieldCH | 2 other reviews | Sep 22, 2023 |

See More Reviews