40 Fun Facts About George Washington's Socks

In George Washington's Socks, which vegetable does Matt Carlton hide in the sugar bowl to escape the dinner table?

Peas go into the sugar bowl, but his little sister Katie sees, so Matt invites her to the campout to keep her quiet. The story ends back at the same dinner table.

In George Washington's Socks, which item of Matt's does a shoeless young soldier with an infected foot trade for?

A sneaker changes hands: Matt gives up his left Reebok, and the soldier, who has never seen such a shoe, wraps Matt's stockinged foot in strips of cloth.

In George Washington's Socks, who shoots the kind Hessian guard moments after he pulls Katie off thin river ice?

A rebel soldier fires the shot, killing the one enemy who had shown the children kindness. It leaves Matt unsure which side in a war can be called the good one.

In George Washington's Socks, which item found on Tony baffles American troops who recognize the face on it?

A dollar bill carries General Washington's portrait, which the troops know at once, but its words about a United States of America mean nothing to them yet.

After Katie tumbles from the rowboat in George Washington's Socks, what does the general wrap around her?

His cape keeps the soaked girl warm as she sleeps in the boat. Matt later runs it back to the general, a good deed that helps clear the children when they fall under suspicion.

In George Washington's Socks, what does Q trade to Katie to win the general's spare socks for his collection?

A bag of marshmallows seals the deal, a treat Katie lost on the hike to the lake. Q means to give the socks a place of honor among his collections of oddities.

In George Washington's Socks, on the night of which holiday do the children land in the icy Delaware crossing?

Christmas night of 1776 was when Washington's ragged army really crossed the river, then marched nine miles through a winter storm to surprise the Hessians at Trenton.

In George Washington's Socks, what kind of animal is Blackjack, who carries Matt alone through the woods?

A mule lent by a kindly farmer, Blackjack takes Matt toward the river. Matt later sends him home alone before following two Native American boys into the forest.

In George Washington's Socks, which young soldier befriends Matt on the march to Trenton but dies in the snow?

Israel Gates shares his food and promises to look after Matt, then falls too sick to walk. Matt refuses to leave him behind, staying at his side until the end.

In George Washington's Socks, what gift does a dying young soldier beg Matt to deliver to his little sister Abby?

Blue glass beads were meant for Abby back in Massachusetts. Matt loses them along the way, but a soldier turns up with them and Matt asks General Washington to see them sent on.

Which former Pennsylvania library storyteller wrote the children's adventure novel George Washington's Socks?

Elvira Woodruff read stories to young children as a librarian in Easton before her own books sold. She had also worked as a gardener, a baker and a janitor.

Which sequel sends Matt Carlton's adventure club back to the Revolutionary War for a second adventure?

George Washington's Spy arrived in 2010, almost twenty years after the first book. This time Matt and five other children land in Boston and join a ring of patriot agents.

Which publisher first released the novel George Washington's Socks?

Scholastic, the company behind school book fairs and clubs, published the novel in 1991, and teachers have used it in classrooms to bring American history to life.

In George Washington's Socks, which kind Hessian guard rescues Katie when she wanders onto thin ice?

Gustav takes the trouble to learn the children's names while his comrades go off to track a deer. Matt had dreaded the Hessians all night, and here was a smiling young man.

In George Washington's Socks, what does Hooter offer a friendly Hessian guard who has scratched his leg?

A Band-Aid is gratefully accepted by the young guard. Soft-hearted Hooter is the friend most shaken when the man is killed soon afterwards.

Where does Matt Carlton's adventure club pitch its tent for the first campout in George Washington's Socks?

A friend's backyard, Tony's, is the safe and familiar spot. When Katie asks where the adventure is, Matt proposes a night hike, overruling Tony's wish to ask permission.

In George Washington's Socks, which older name for Levy Lake does Tony learn from his grandfather?

Levart holds the secret: spelled backwards it reads 'travel', matching the reversed words written on the mysterious rowboat.

In George Washington's Socks, how is Corporal Adam Hibbs related to the Adam Hibbs who vanished on Levy Lake?

He is his grandson, proof that the lost man reached the past and never came back. Before dying of a bayonet wound, the corporal tells Q the rowboat is the way home.

In George Washington's Socks, which bedtime comfort does big, strong Hooter secretly keep from his friends?

A teddy bear still shares Hooter's bed, a secret the narrator lets slip while he clings to Tony in fright. The club's strong man is also its softest heart.

In George Washington's Socks, which state do Matt Carlton and his friends call home before the rowboat trip?

Nebraska is home, half a continent from the Delaware, which makes the icy river and the ragged army on it all the more of a shock to five young campers.

In George Washington's Socks, what does a rum-scented captain shove into Matt's hands before the march to Trenton?

A musket and ammunition land in Matt's arms because Captain McCowly will not listen to his story about a boat. Matt spends the march fretting that he cannot work it.

In George Washington's Socks, why does Temperance Hornbee insist that Matt leave the farm?

She fears Loyalist neighbors will punish the couple for sheltering him, since the British have already raided the farm once. Even so, she relents enough to fetch Matt a pair of shoes.

In George Washington's Socks, what is Matt surprised to be wearing when he wakes in the Hornbee farmhouse?

A woman's gown is the dry clothing he wakes up in, warm in bed after his night in the snow. He leaves in his own dried clothes plus a deerskin coat from the farmer.

In George Washington's Socks, which gadget does Matt offer two Native American boys for help finding the Hessians?

An electronic game with a tiny running man on its screen fascinates the boys, who take out its batteries to keep. In the end they guide him in return for his shoe buckles.

In George Washington's Socks, why does the drummer Henry Schudder wear a red uniform?

So officers can find him in a fight, because a drummer relays their orders to the men. It is the young soldier marching beside Matt who explains the odd uniform.

In George Washington's Socks, Matt's soldier friend enlisted as a paid stand-in for a Boston man of which trade?

A silversmith who could afford to buy his way out of serving paid in money and a cow, which the soldier's hungry younger brothers and sister badly needed.

In George Washington's Socks, what food does a young soldier share with Matt as they sit on a fence board?

Cooked pigeon is what the soldier hands him. The captain had stopped the men burning fence rails for fires, so the pair use a loose board as a seat in the snow.

In George Washington's Socks, from which book series does Matt read aloud about the crossing at the campout?

Great Adventures in History supplies one true story for each club meeting. The first night's reading, on Washington's river crossing, dwells on the army's low morale and harsh conditions.

In George Washington's Socks, which job does Tony, the smallest of the boys, hold in the adventure club?

Scout is Tony's title, though whenever he goes ahead he stays only a few feet in front of the group. Q is the club's thinker and Hooter its strong man.

Before writing George Washington's Socks, its author held odd jobs that included driving which vehicle?

An ice-cream truck was one stop on a winding road to writing that also took in work as a janitor, gardener, baker, window-dresser and shop owner.

Washington's army crossed the Delaware to attack Trenton, now the capital of which state?

New Jersey lay on the far bank. The army set out from Pennsylvania, and Trenton was then only a small town held by about 1,400 Hessian soldiers.

Which writer's pamphlet The American Crisis cheered Washington's army a week before the Delaware crossing?

Thomas Paine, already known for Common Sense, signed the essays with that title as his pen name and urged worn-down soldiers to look more hopefully on their chances.

Which future U.S. president was badly wounded as a young lieutenant in Washington's attack on Trenton?

James Monroe was struck in the left shoulder by a ball that severed an artery and was carried from the field bleeding badly. Only a handful of Americans were hurt in the battle.

Washington's soldiers crossed the Delaware mostly in which high-sided freight craft built for an ironworks?

Durham boats, built to carry heavy loads for the Durham Iron Works, could be poled across the river. Horses and artillery probably went over on the larger ferry vessels.

Which Hessian colonel commanded the garrison at Trenton and died of wounds from Washington's surprise attack?

Johann Rall was shot while leading his troops and carried back to his headquarters, where he died of his wounds. A note warning him of the attack is said to have turned up later in his coat pocket.

Which grim password did Washington choose for the night his army crossed the Delaware to attack Trenton?

Victory or Death summed up the stakes: many enlistments were due to run out within a week, so Washington was gambling his shrinking army on one surprise attack.

Which artist painted the famous picture of Washington standing in a boat among ice floes on the Delaware?

Emanuel Leutze conceived it in Germany during the revolutions of 1848, long after the event. One of his versions now hangs in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

John Glover's sailors, who ferried Washington's army over the Delaware, came from which Massachusetts town?

Marblehead seamen worked the boats in the dark among floating ice. In the novel, Matt knows who they are from a school history lesson on Glover and his men.

Which former Boston bookseller, Washington's chief of artillery, was put in charge of the Delaware crossing?

Henry Knox had a booming voice that kept the crossing moving. A year earlier he had hauled captured cannon some 300 miles from Fort Ticonderoga to the siege of Boston.

After Trenton, Washington's army won again days later at which nearby town?

Princeton fell the day after the army beat off British reinforcements under Lord Cornwallis at Trenton. Washington then went into winter quarters at Morristown.