Author: Jean Fritz
Title: The Great Little Madison
Illustrator: None
Genre: Chapter Book
Subgenre: Historical/ Informational/ Nonfiction
Theme: The life of our fourth president of the United States, James Madison.
Primary and Secondary Characters: James Madison, Dolly Madison, and Thomas Jefferson
Awards: Orbis Pictus
Publishing Company: Penguin
Date of Publication: 1998
Brief Summary and How to Use With Students:
This book is ideal for student’s grades five to nine. It is about the life and legacy of our fourth president James Madison. The book gives a great overview of Madison by showing both his strengths and weaknesses.
Here are some ideas for reports and papers students can do:
1. Fritz writes, "James Madison said that prolonging the slave trade was 'dishonorable to the American character'," yet he owned slaves. In Madison's time, there was a distinction between the "slave trade" and slave ownership. What was the "slave trade" and how was it stopped?
2. The Federalist Papers are often required reading in schools. Why are The Federalist Papers considered so important? What are American students expected to learn about them?
3. Which of The Federalist Papers were written by Madison? What form of government does he say the United States should have? Does today's U.S. government resemble what Madison envisioned?
4. How accurate is Fritz's portrayal of the Pennsylvania Quakers of Dolley Madison's era?
5. If everyone voted in November 1808, why would the results of the presidential election not be known until January 1809?
