SO YOU WANT TO BE PRESIDENT

So You Want to Be President

Written by: Judith St. George

Illustrated by: David Small

Penguin Putnam Books for Young Readers, 2000

47 pages

Non-Fiction 

               I chose to read this book after flipping through a few pages and seeing that it was a humorous way to learn about the presidents and the White House. The story begins by telling some funny pros and cons about being president and by comparing and contrasting the different presidents. Then the story goes on by telling facts about the different presidents such as their hobbies, appearance,  pets, historical marks, and favorite foods. Also, the story talks about what is is like to live in the White House and what the duties of the president are. I personally found it interesting to learn that Andrew Jackson couldn't read until he was fourteen years old. Lastly, in the very back of the book there is an ordered list of the presidents.  Beside each presidents name is the year he was born,  where he was born, and his accomplishments. 

            The Caldocott winning illustrations in this book are done using pen, water colors, and chalk. The text; however,  is placed both informally and formally. I personally love these illustrations because they provide a humanizing and humorous interpretation of the presidents.

            I would definitely use this book in my future classroom and I would use it for all ages as a read aloud. For lessons, I would pull this book out to talk about Presidents Day and to educate students about presidency, the White House,  and the different  presidents. I would also use this story to have students do a quick write about weather or not they want to be president and what they would do if they were president. For upper grades, I would have students group up and select a president in which they found interesting and research other information about them to share with the class.