Saturday, March 29, 2008

What to do about Alice?

What to do about Alice?: How Alice Roosevelt Broke the Rules, Charmed the World, and Drove her Father Teddy Crazy!
by Barbara Kerley

Scholastic Press

unpaged

4 comments:

Mandy said...

Visual presentation is this book's strong suit. The illustrations portray the liveliness of Alice Roosevelt with an energy all their own.

I think the "trouble maker" in Alice will appeal to children, but I was disappointed in the brevity of the back matter. A timeline of her life, at least, would have been helpful.

Teresa said...

While I think the use of endpapers to be the title page and author's note was interesting, it didn't work so well in a library book. I had to release the library tape so I could read the complete author's note.

I would have liked a copy of the picture of Alice that inspired the author to write the book in the first place. I thought the book was interesting. I am interested enough to look up some of the books that she used to research the book.

Holly B said...

What To Do About Alice? was an interesting look into the life of Alice Roosevelt, daughter of Theodore Roosevelt. I found it quite humorous and intriguing to learn all of the "improper" things she did during her life. She seemed to be a truly unique and strong individual who didn't care about what others thought or said. She lived life to the fullest and that is something many of us struggle to do. She serves as an example to young ladies that you don't always have to "go with the grain".

I am not surprised that this book was also nominated for the Caldecott Award as well. The illustrations continually reminded me of the time period as I read the book. I believe this book was be interesting to children, especially older girls who are trying to decide who they really are.

Jessica said...

Holly, I agree. I was not at all surprised that this book was also nominated for a Caldecott. I got such a kick out of reading it, I wish more books were written with such zest and energy. Maybe more so, I wish I contain such a zest and excitement in the classroom. This book is great for use in the classroom in connection with political achievements and achievements of young women.
While reading this book, I laughed out loud a few times thinking, "My mom would shoot me if I did that, or she really did that!"