"So You Want to be President" by author Judith St. George and illustrator David Small was the 2001 recipient of the Caldecott Medal. It combines historical facts in a fun way. For instance, St. George writes that there were six presidents with the first name of James and that eight presidents grew up in log-cabins. She also compares the presidents' sizes--Lincoln was the tallest and Madison was the smallest. She discusses musical talents, who went to college and who didn't, who was in the army, who had pets, had siblings, who was good-looking and who wasn't.
The book is a fun compilation of presidential traits. The point being: however similar or dissimilar the presidents may have been (or may be), they share one thing and that is service to the people of this great nation.
This book does a terrific job of being both educational and fun. It teaches children about presidential history. The drawings are funny and appropriate. The whole tone of the book is like, "let me teach you some cool things about these old dead guys who you may have heard of." It makes history come alive for kids. For instance, they heard of Lincoln, but did they know that he was tall and somewhat homely and poor--and happened to unify the nation during the Civil War?
Anything that educates children while balancing the aspect of fun gets a high approval from me. I am big believer that education CAN be fun. If we don't try to make it interesting to children, they will tune us out. The author and the illustrator succeeded in their aim.
When I was ten, there was a book on the U.S. Presidents that I checked out (and renewed) for weeks at my school library. It was the only book of its kind in my library. It was more old-school, didactic and instructional--which was fine but I wish that THIS book had been around back then. It would have been one of my regulars!
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