Author: Judith St. George
Illustrator: David Small
Publisher: Philomel Books
Grade: 3rd
Topic: Social Studies
TEKS:
§113.13 Second Grade
(b) Knowledge and Skills
(4) History. The student understands how historical figures, patriots, and good citizens helped shape the community, state, and nation.
About the Author and Illustrator:
“So You Want to be President?” won the Caldecott award in 2001 for David Small’s illustrations. He has written and illustrated many of his own books, as well as partnered with many other authors and done the illustrations. Judith St. George is most well known for this particular book. However, she has written over 40 books. Most of them are historical fiction.
Snippet:
“Do you have a pet? All kinds of pets have lived in the White House, mostly dogs. Herbert Hoover had three: Piney, Snowflake, and Tut. (Tut must have been a Democrat. He and his Republican master never got along.) Franklin Roosevelt’s dog, Fala, was almost as famous as his owner. Barack Obama promised to give his daughters a dog if he was elected President. (He was, and he did.)
George H. W. Bush’s dog wrote “Milli’s Book: Adventures of a White House Dog” (as told to Mrs. Bush!). Benjamin Harrison’s goat pulled his grandchildren around in a cart, the Coolidges had a pet raccoon, Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton preferred cats.
Theodore Roosevelt’s children didn’t just have pets, they ran a zoo. They had dogs, cats, guinea pigs, snakes, mice, rats, badgers, raccoons, parrots, and a Shetland pony called Algonquin. The cheer up his sick brother, young Quentin once took Algonquin upstairs in the White House elevator!”
The book goes on to give many fun facts about different Presidents over time. It talks about size, age, children, siblings, money, and many more! This particular version is an updated version, so it also includes the 2012 election. Not only does this book contain very interesting and sometimes funny facts, the illustrations are wonderful, hence the Caldecott Award. It is definitely a must read for students just beginning to learn about Presidents, or older!
This was an appropriate book for this particular TEKS. I think this book is a fun read for students and shows a unique aspect of Presidents. Learning about the pets Presidents have is relevant for students especially those that have pets. I think this will interest students and allow them to explore other facts or even biographies about Presidents. The snippet you choose to read was perfect!
What a wonderful book to get students interested in the life of our presidents!Even now, after hearing your snippet in class, I still found myself laughing while reading it. It’s informative and humorous!
I find it very interesting how this book can target such a wide range of students. The book covers so many different topics that it has the ability to interest a whole class full of students.
After reading more about the author, I find myself wondering if you could do an author flood over St. George books. Would you be able to find a way to make the “author flood” match TEKS from a certain grade? Wouldn’t that be an interesting way to bring history topics into the classroom and include content literacy in the process!