author
John G. (John Gilbert) Thompson
1862–1940
Best known for school readers and World War story collections written for young people, this educator-author spent decades shaping how children learned to read and understand history. His work blends classroom experience with a clear, practical style that made complex subjects approachable.
2 Audiobooks
Winning a Cause: World War Stories
by John G. (John Gilbert) Thompson, Inez Bigwood
Lest We Forget: World War Stories
by John G. (John Gilbert) Thompson, Inez Bigwood
About the author
John G. Thompson was an American educator and writer born in 1862 and died in 1940. He is closely associated with early reading textbooks and classroom materials, including the New Century Readers, Word from Word Readers, and the Thompson Readers, many of them created with collaborators such as Thomas Edward Thompson and Inez Bigwood.
Beyond his publishing work, Thompson had a long career in education. Fitchburg State records identify him as the first principal of the State Normal School in Fitchburg, Massachusetts, where he served during the school’s early formative years and helped establish its direction as a teacher-training institution.
He also wrote books aimed at younger readers about World War I, including Lest We Forget and Winning a Cause. Those volumes show the same strengths found in his schoolbooks: a teacher’s instinct for explanation, an interest in civic and historical subjects, and a wish to make serious events understandable to students.