I Grew Up to Be President

Gr 3–5—U.S. presidents are each profiled on a spread that summarizes his early life and road to office in a few paragraphs. Significant events or interesting tidbits are bulleted, and a "fact file" listing birth and death dates, children's names, vice president, and political party is included. A portrait of the man as an adult is accompanied by a caricature of him as a child holding something related to his life or presidency. For example, James Madison has an ice-cream cone because the new confection was served at his inauguration; Theodore Roosevelt has a teddy bear, and so on. The book is similar in tone to Kathleen Krull's Lives of the Presidents (Houghton Harcourt, 2011) and Judith St. George's So You Want to Be President (Philomel, 2000), but information is easier to find because of the format. The generally light attitude and visually appealing layout make the volume well suited as an introduction to the presidents for young children.—Lucinda Snyder Whitehurst, St. Christopher's School, Richmond, VA