Presidential Literature for the Whole Family

Hubby and I quite enjoy politics and Presidential lore. And without meaning to, we've passed along our interest in that history to our kids. They come home from their years in early elementary chock full of enthusiasm at the facts and figures related to present and former leaders. It's a lot of fun. I've gotten them various books at their particular reading levels to keep their interest.

I received four books and I'll give a brief summary about each.

Our Country's Presidents - if you want something utterly up-to-the-minute, this one already has our newest Commander-in-Chief, President Obama, right on the cover! From National Geographic, the book I got is hardcover and as with most books about the Presidents, starts with George Washington and goes in order. Each President has several pages devoted to them. There's kind of a basic stat chart and then there are photos, stories, quotes and anecdotes. If you know a lot of about the Presidents, you might not learn anything "new" as everything that could have been revealed about our Presidents has been long before now, but as a basic and nicely laid out informative book, it's a great coffee table book to see all the Presidents at a glance. I particularly enjoy the pictures for each. I left these books out in our library room and my junior high son picked this one up first and spent quite some time reading it one evening without any encouragement. So, it held the interest of a 7th grader who could have very well been playing Wii instead of reading about Presidents.

Our Country's First Ladies - also by National Geographic, this one has the same format as the one about the Presidents with the stat area. It also divides up the book into portions as "eras" of how the role of First Lady changed over the years. It is noted which women did and did not enjoy their roles as First Lady and the particular intracacies of how these women met their President at which point in his career.

Dear First Lady: Letters to the White House - As taken from the Collection of the Library of Congress & National Archives, it examines the role of First Lady again as something that was routinely loved and hated by the women that resided at the White House. But then starting with a letter dating 1796, it goes in chronological order by highlighting some specific correspondences from various notable figures and also, everyday people, who took the time to write to the First Ladies regarding one issue or another. Some intensely important, some trivial. Great book for those who enjoy the perspectives of the First Ladies of our nation. It was suggested in an article last month in the Washington Post that this be a book Michelle Obama might want to add to her reading list.

Dear Mr. President: Letters to the Oval Office - this was my absolute favorite of the four. While the layout is similar to the book with letters to the First Ladies, it becomes an intense and emotional timeline of the issues that most affected our nation that compelled everyday people like you and me to pick up their pen & ink, or sit at their typewriters, or to entice small children to carefully write barely learned alphabets about what mattered to them so much, they had to write to the most powerful person in the world to let them know it. This book, while informative, has an intensity of real human emotion. War, slavery, equal rights...it is full of compelling stuff.

So, if you have someone who enjoys Presidential history, I would highly recommend any of the four selections here. Well done, and incredibly inexpensive for how much book you get for the price.