A Birthday Cake for George Washington

Posted on 17 January 2018 by Ramin Ganeshram

Everyone is buzzing about the president s birthday Especially George Washington s servants, who scurry around the kitchen preparing to make this the best celebration ever Oh, how George Washington loves his cake And, oh, how he depends on Hercules, his head chef, to make it for him Hercules, a slave, takes great pride in baking the president s cake But this year there is one problem they are out of sugar.This story, told in the voice of Delia, Hercules s young daughter, is based on real events, and underscores the loving exchange between a very determined father and his eager daughter, who are faced with an unspoken, bittersweet reality No matter how delicious the president s cake turns out to be, Delia and Papa will not taste the sweetness of freedom New York Times food writer Ramin Ganeshram and acclaimed illustrator Vanessa Brantley Newton serve up a slice of history in a picture book narrative that will surely satisfy. Free Download A Birthday Cake for George Washington author Ramin Ganeshram For Kindle ePUB or eBook – kino-fada.fr This review originally appeared on my personal blog.George Washington and the people he enslaved may receiveattention than any other facet of slavery in the United States Whether due to the documents that were well maintained by his estate or because some people let the fact that this Founding Father owned enslaved humans give them some sort of validation, we find numerous books and documentaries relating to George Washington and the people he owned.A Birthday Cake for George Washington, This review originally appeared on my personal blog.George Washington and the people he enslaved may receiveattention than any other facet of slavery in the United States Whether due to the documents that were well maintained by his estate or because some people let the fact that this Founding Father owned enslaved humans give them some sort of validation, we find numerous books and documentaries relating to George Washington and the people he owned.A Birthday Cake for George Washington, by Ramin Ganeshram and Vanessa Brantly Newton, is the story of Hercules, the first White House chef, while he is in the midst of preparing a birthday cake for George Washington s birthday Things go awry when he realizes there is no sugar in the cupboard Not brown, not cake nor fine The story m...Scholastic may have pulled this book from physical distribution, but you can still buy it for Kindle as of this writing, and it s worth purchasing to support the cause of free expression and the rights of diverse authors and illustrators to tell stories from America s diverse history No, this story does not convey the evils of the institution of slavery it doesn t even attempt to On the other hand, it doesn t deny its existence as some US history textbooks have b...Fictional depiction of Hercules, Washington s slave, whose duties were cooking for his master Dangerous as it paints a picture that Hercules was honored to be Washington s chef when historical evidence shows that he hated his life and tried to escape because he was separate...Okay so here is what I think This is a FICTIONAL account of people that actually existed I read the book, read the back matter included in the book, and thought for a bit on what I felt The illustrator has gotten vilified in the public for the illustrations, but I don t see many comments about the text Based on the back matter that is included, while Hercules was a slave, he seemed to have been treated well, as an employee I know slavery was evil and kids do too Kids are not dumb However, Okay so here is what I think This is a FICTIONAL account of people that actually existed I read the book, read the back matter included in the book, and thought for a bit on what I felt The illustrator has gotten vilified in the public for the illustrations, but I don t see many comments about the text Based on the back matter that is included, while Hercules was a slave, he seemed to have been treated well, as an employee I know slavery was evil and kids do too Kids are not dumb However, I think this book can be used as an excellent way to open a dialogue with kids about slavery and what happened Does a book aimed at young children need to have graphic illustrations of whippings and beatings I certainly do not think so This book is not marketed as a true story or shelved in the non fiction Yes the people in the story were real But we have lots of picture books that have real people in them yet are fictionalized accounts I think the most important thing that can come from read...This book has been recalled by Scholastic after public protest.http oomscholasticblog.com post newThis book was recently withdrawn from publication by Scholastic I can definitely see the problems with this for me, the happy pictures of people were very disturbing Still, I felt that Ms Ganeshram was really trying to show the efforts of Hercules and highlight his contributions to history She is a cooking historian, and there is not much cooking history in children s books Could this have been done in aculturally sensitive way Yes Should the notes at the back have been included i This book was recently withdrawn from publication by Scholastic I can definitely see the problems with this for me, the happy pictures of people were very disturbing Still, I felt that Ms Ganeshram was really trying to show the efforts of Hercules and highlight his contributions to history She is a cooking historian, and there is not much cooking history in children s books Could this have been done in aculturally sensitive way Yes Should the notes at the back have been included in the text Absolutely I love Mitali Perkins su...I cannot separate my thoughts on A Birthday Cake for George Washington from the controversies surrounding it and A Fine Dessert, also published in 2015 I ll admit that when I read A Fine Dessert, my uh oh radar did not go off Yes, I noticed that a couple of pages dealt with slavery, and the slaves seemed happy enough in the brief episode involving them Call it ignorance or whatever you want, but I gave the author and illustrator benefit of the doubt that even in the misery of slavery, individ I cannot separate my thoughts on A Birthday Cake for George Washington from the controversies surrounding it and A Fine Dessert, also published in 2015 I ll admit that when I read A Fine Dessert, my uh oh radar did not go off Yes, I noticed that a couple of pages dealt with slavery, and the slaves seemed happy enough in the brief episode involving them Call it ignorance or whatever you want, but I gave the author and illustrator benefit of the doubt that even in the misery of slavery, individuals could be at least somewhat happy for a little while Then the firestorm broke, and I asked some people smarter than me what I had missed in my reading They patiently explained it to me, and I came away wiser A Birthday Cake for George Washington is way different This is an entire book filled with page after page of text and pictures of slaves who seem to regard their lot as nothingthan just another occupation They seem focused, satisfied, and yes, happy about s...Finally got hold of one of our library s copies of this controversial book and I m glad I did As a story it s not bad a cake needs to be made, Hercules, being a top notch chef, makes do with honey instead of sugar, his adoring daughter narrates We re all celebrating the President Hoorah But then, you see, Hercules and his daughter are slaves, so, you know, that kind of puts a wrench in the happiness works Technically, it s a fine book illustrations are lovely, actually, and historically Finally got hold of one of our library s copies of this controversial book and I m glad I did As a story it s not bad a cake needs to be made, Hercules, being a top notch chef, makes do with honey instead of sugar, his adoring daughter narrates We re all celebrating the President Hoorah But then, you see, Hercules and his daughter are slaves, so, you know, that kind of puts a wrench in the happiness works Technically, it s a fine book illustrations are lovely, actually, and historically appropriate It seems to be well researched Hercules was a great chef, albeit enslaved, was given privileges because of his talent, and probably enjoyed his work to some extent He did escape slavery at some point, as the end notes describe, and obviously nobody WANTED to be a slave This book is important for the history it depic...I was unable to read this before reading about the controversy regarding its portrayal of slavery, so I m not sure what I would have thought if I had just picked this up Even without the attendant hullaballoo, A Birthday Cake for George Washington offers a lot to think about, and after Scholastic halted distribution there s evenissues to discuss So, thoughts The story of Hercules the chef is fascinating I had never heard of this man before I read about this book, so if nothing else, A B I was unable to read this before reading about the controversy regarding its portrayal of slavery, so I m not sure what I would have thought if I had just picked this up Even without the attendant hullaballoo, A Birthday Cake for George Washington offers a lot to think about, and after Scholastic halted distribution there s evenissues to discuss So, thoughts The story of Hercules the chef is fascinating I had never heard of this man before I read about this book, so if nothing else, A Birthday Cake for George Washington shed some light on a very cool person and an intriguing episode in early United States history, however indirectly While George Washington stands out as an icon and hero, his relationship with his slaves reminds us today that the founding fathers were many things, but definitely not perfect In this book, not much is said in the text about Washington s actual relationship with his slaves, but...There was a great deal of hoopla about this book I am in the dark about why, I mean it is a children s book I don t think any author or illustrator would like to terrorize kids with work or artistry on the page of the savagery of enslavement Yes, I know there are other picture books out there that shed light on enslaved individuals without terrorizing the reader, but why do they all have to be alike We all know that there were some enslaved that were fine with their plight Sucks to hear, bu There was a great deal of hoopla about this book I am in the dark about why, I mean it is a children s book I don t think any author or illustrator would like to terrorize kids with work or artistry on the page of the savagery of enslavement Yes, I know there are other picture books out there that shed light on enslaved individuals without terrorizing the reader, but why do they all have to be alike We all know that there were...

17 January 2018

Ramin Ganeshram