What To Do About Alice?

1.    BIBLIOGRAPHY:  Kerley, Barbara. 2008. WHAT TO DO ABOUT ALICE? Fotheringham, Edwin.  New York, NY: Scholastic Press. ISBN 978043992231.

2. PLOT SUMMARY
Alice was a huge problem for her dad, Theodore Roosevelt.  He could herd thousands of cattle across the Dakotas, lead Rough Riders up Kettle Hill in Puerto Rico, kill a grizzly bear, capture outlaws, govern New York, and be the Vice President of the United States.  However, he could not contain and control his daughter.  She wanted to explore.  Her mom died two days after she was born, but her father eventually remarried and had more children.  She loved trying new things as her family moved for her father’s job between New York and Washington, D.C.  Alice especially loved to read and hear stories about Davy Crockett, George Armstrong Custer, and Daniel Boone.  She was home-schooled and became a tomboy wanting to wear pants and wanting a pet monkey.  She had to wear leg braces to make her legs grow properly, but then she was able to take them off and ride a bike.  Alice joined an all-boy club, which landed her the consequence of attending Miss Spence’s boarding school.  She cried and got out of it.  She ended up teaching herself by reading her father’s library.  When she was seventeen, Alice’s dad became the President.  Alice and her pet snake moved into the White House.  She decided that she would become a goodwill ambassador.  Alice travelled the world and had her own adventures while doing good around the world.  During her father’s 2^nd inauguration speech, she had to be told to sit down because she was waving so much to her friends.  After her father signed a peace treaty between Russia and Japan, she joined an American delegation going to Asia.  She received many gifts along the way and brought home a fiancé who was a congressman.  She even got her pet monkey! 

3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS
This book was an excellent picture book biography.  The information appears to be accurate.  The author cites her sources for the information, which includes direct letters from Theodore Roosevelt to his daughter and the Library of Congress.  These are very reliable resources.  The author does a splendid job of giving you information about Theodore Roosevelt’s presidency with a more interesting and inviting twist.  The style of using Alice as a main character really gives a voice that the students can relate to.  The naughty daughter that misbehaves and cannot be controlled even by such an accomplished president is hilarious and relatable to the students.  It livens up the story.  Rather than just listing everything Theodore does, it shows how it all interweaves into a family dynamic.  This is captivating and enlists the students to do a lot more research after reading this picture book biography.  My students read it and laughed hysterically.  They followed up with the question of whether or not it was real, including specific parts.  The curiosity and interest level to do more research and fact checking is exactly what we want our kids to do after reading a great informational text.  The organization is clear and concise in a chronological order.  The design is very enticing for the younger reader even.  The pages are filled with color and pictures.  The words are written to match the pictures, such as when there are stairs the words are in the shape of the stairs.  When Alice is being bossy or Theodore Roosevelt is trying to describe or tell her something to do, the print gets bigger and bolder, such as calling her ‘unruly’, ‘inconsiderate’, and a ‘tomboy’.  Sometimes the font type changes too.  This all aids in keeping the reader engaged in the book. 

 
4. REVIEW EXCERPT(S)
Bluebonnet Award Nominee 2009-2010

Starred review in BOOKLIST: “Irrepressible Alice Roosevelt gets a treatment every bit as attractive and exuberant as she was....The large format gives Fotheringham, in his debut, plenty of room for spectacular art.”

Starred review in SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL:  “Kerley’s text gallops along with a vitality to match her subject s antics, as the girl greets White House visitors accompanied by her pet snake, refuses to let leg braces cramp her style, dives fully clothed into a ship’s swimming pool, and also earns her place in history as one of her father s trusted advisers. Fotheringham’s digitally rendered, retro-style illustrations are a superb match for the text."

Starred review in KIRKUS: “Theodore Roosevelt s irrepressible oldest child receives an appropriately vivacious appreciation in this superb picture book.... Kerley s precise text presents readers with a devilishly smart, strong-willed girl who was determined to live life on her own terms and largely succeeded."

5. CONNECTIONS
*It is great to use in conjunction with a unit on Theodore Roosevelt.

Other books for children about Theodore Roosevelt:

Fritz, Jean.  BULLY FOR YOU, TEDDY ROOSEVELT! Wimmer, Mike. ISBN 0689116097.

Harness, Cheryl.  YOUNG TEDDY ROOSEVELT.  ISBN 0792270940.

Hollihan, Kerrie.  THEODORE ROOSEVELT FOR KIDS: HIS LIFE AND TIMES, 21 ACTIVITIES. ISBN 1556529554.

Gayle, Sharon. TEDDY ROOSEVELT: THE PEOPLE’S PRESIDENT. Dacey, Bob, & Bandelin, Debra. ISBN 0689858256.

Harness, Charyl.  THE REMARKABLE ROUGH-RIDING LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT AND THE RISE OF EMPIRE AMERICA. ISBN 1426300085.