"Be a good President, Grandpa," little Peter called as Thomas Jefferson left for Washington. Thomas Jefferson was a good President. He made American bigger and stronger, and he made all people a part of the government.

But Jefferson missed his farm in Virginia. Since boyhood he had loved to ride through the fields and woods, to paddle down the river and to picnic on the mountaintops. He missed the quiet hours of reading and writing. Jefferson expressed himself best on paper. He felt the most important thing he'd ever done was to write the Declaration of Independence.

He did so many other things: designed building, invented a whirlygig chair, played the violin, helped farmers, students, Indians and slaves. Jefferson's days were filled with new ideas. As his father said, "Tom wants to learn everything!"

Anne Colver makes Jefferson unforgettably alive. She is the author of 15 books for children, among them Garrard's Abraham Lincoln and Florence Nightingale.

From the dust jacket