So You Want to be President?

St. George, J. So you want to be president? New York, NY: Philomel Books.

Read on June 4, 2012. A 2001 Caldecott Award winner.

What do you know about presidents and their demands while in office? What do you know about what it takes to be a president?  Whatever you know, prepare to be challenged while reading this book. While reading, I was astonished to learn some things about the men that America chose to lead this great country. For example, Andrew Jackson started, and participated in, several brawls before he was elected. Calvin Coolidge had a pet raccoon and every single president has at least one sibling. If that wasn't enough, the author included a list of additional facts in the back of the book.

Along with the entertaining facts, the illustrator (David Small) had a sense of humor when using pop art to make our former presidents look like caricature drawings. Presidential body parts were exaggerated, which made me laugh before I even started reading. There's a hilarious picture of Howard Taft being lifted by a crane into a bath tub that he had specially made. He just looked so happy and pleased with himself for having to have a bathtub specially built for his 300 pound body.

While reading this book, I thought of the fifth graders across the hall from me. They would love learning about US history if it were presented in this manner. I would bet that students wouldn't even realize that they are learning because this book is that exciting (Wigfield and Guthrie). Another way to encourage reader response would be to have students make a list of some of the things they might require if they ever became president (Fish).