So You Want To Be President?
Judith St. George and David Small
I read this book when I was younger and loved it but never knew it was a Caldecott winner, so to see it on the list and to know that so many other people appreciate it was really a good feeling.
"So You Want To Be President?" doesn't have a plot so much as it is a fun and informational book. The point is to teach children (and adults) all about the presidents and their fun and not so fun facts and quirks.
The reason that I think this book is so popular is that it really makes all the presidents up until William Clinton very personable and reachable, which isn't always easy to do. They say things like "The President doesn't have to eat yucky vegetables." and "Do you have pesky brothers and sisters? Every one of our Presidents did."
But, besides just random facts like which presidents are tall and which didn't like broccoli, it also covers things like honesty in the presidency, and brings up Clinton and Nixon.
This book can be used for any age. Because there is no chronological story, if you read it to a younger crowd you can pick and choose which pages to read if they get bored easily. You could also use this for higher elementary school and I would say even middle school for history lessons, or certain parts like maybe a lesson on Presidents Day.
I love this book. I think because there is a lot of information it can be used for the older grades as well as the little ones. Its perfect for president's day to teach children the importance of history and presidents.
ReplyDeleteIt's great how this book can work for so many grade levels. It seems like a fun way to not only learn about the presidents, but also encourage kids to be interested and learn even more.
ReplyDeleteI loved the book talk you gave on this book in our group. We were able to look at the pictures up close and see why it won the Caldecott book. I also think it is a great book to incorporate with any grade level when learning about presidents, and you did a good job giving examples in class.
ReplyDeleteThis will most definitely be in my classroom library. I love the fact that we are all going to be able to have hundreds of books at our fingure tips when we are done with this class. I thank all of you for reading such interesting and well writen books.
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