What to do About Alice?

1. Bibliography

Kerley, Barbara. 2008. What to Do About Alice?: How Alice Roosevelt Broke the Rules, Charmed the World, and Drove Her Father Teddy Crazy!. Ill. by Edwin Fotheringham. New York: Scholastic Press. ISBN 9780763636111

2. Plot Summary

            Teddy Roosevelt ran the country, but he was unable to control his daughter Alice. She’s an adventurous female who traveled the world, and made her own stamp on being the president’s daughter. Alice did things her own way no matter what anyone thought from the time she was little and never changed.

3. Critical Analysis

            This picture book biography of Alice Roosevelt Longworth, is both entertaining and informative. On the back inside cover Barbara Kerley cites several sources from which she draws from for quotations. The information in the book appears to be accurate, after a quick web search on Alice’s life. The book starts from the time Alice is young until and continues until after her father Teddy Roosevelt is no longer president. References are not presented or even mentioned until the back inside cover, but quotes are used to carry the story forward and to add detail. The book is laid out similar to a traditional picture book with a wide usage of artwork on every page. The illustration help add to the character presentation of Alice. With the use of colorful illustrations, and design through the text layout, the book is presented in a very attractive manner that draws the reader in. While much of the text is in a simple and traditional font, the use of all caps and bolding helps tell the story. The text itself is all laid out in a variety of ways which corresponds with the illustrations. The illustrations present information not only through the drawings of the characters, but also through the representation of newspaper articles on several pages. What to Do about Alice? presents information in a fun and unique way, matching the character of the book.

4. Reviews

Kirkus Review; “Theodore Roosevelt's irrepressible oldest child receives an appropriately vivacious appreciation in this superb picture book. "From the time she was a little girl, Alice ate up the world." Taking her thematic approach from Alice's own self-description, 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. Sprinkling her account with well-chosen quotations, she outlines Alice Roosevelt Longworth's childhood and its increasingly outrageous hijinks, as well as the loving (if sometimes exasperating) relationship she enjoyed with her renowned father. Fotheringham's digital illustrations perfectly evoke the retro styles of an earlier age, depicting a confident Alice sailing through life and tackling every challenge with delight and aplomb. The illustrator takes every opportunity to develop Alice's character further; one memorable spread shows a blandly smiling Alice leading her smaller siblings in riding trays down the White House stairs while the text merely remarks, "She watched her younger brothers and sister so her stepmother could get some rest." It's a gleeful celebration of a fully, unapologetically led life..”

From School Library Journal; “Kerley brings another historical figure to life. Alice Lee Roosevelt was President Theodore Roosevelt's only child by his first wife, who died two days after her birth. From the start, Alice's behavior was unconventional, and that pattern was to continue throughout her colorful life. 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. The energy in his pictures is palpable as when Alice is turned loose in her father's library and five Alices dart about followed by lines that trace her frenetic path as she reads eclectically and voraciously. The illustrations not only enhance but are frequently the source of humor: "Alice tried to be helpful. She watched her younger brothers and sister so her stepmother could get some rest." The picture depicts Alice and her siblings careening down the White House stairs on sleds. Alice blue, the color named after her eyes, swirls throughout in a subtle tribute. This book provides a fascinating glimpse into both a bygone era and one of its more interesting denizens as well as a surefire antidote for any child who thinks that historical figures are boring.”

5. Connections

* In what ways did Alice upset her father? Did she change at all?

*Look into other daughters of former presidents, and see how they acted similar and different?

* Make a time-line of Alice’s life.

           

* Similar books:

            Cary, Barbara. Meet Abraham Lincoln. ISBN 0375803963

Ringgold, Faith. If a Bus Could Talk: The Story of Rosa Parks. ISBN 0689856768

Adler, David A. A Picture Book of Anne Frank. Ill. by Karen Ritz. ISBN 0823410781