| Title | : | Lives of the Presidents: Fame, Shame (and What the Neighbors Thought) |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 015200808X |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9780152008086 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Hardcover |
| Number of Pages | : | 96 |
| Publication | : | First published January 1, 1998 |
Lives of the Presidents: Fame, Shame (and What the Neighbors Thought) Reviews
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Lives of the Presidents: Fame, Shame (and What the Neighbors Thought) by Kathleen Krull gives a relatively short biographical summary of each US President from Washington through Clinton. What this author did differently was to mostly avoid their major policy initiatives and accomplishments and focused instead on personal traits such as likes, dislikes, good and bad habits, what they liked to eat, and family details. This gives us a chance to see a completely different side to many of them; I actually found myself liking some because of these personal traits who's policies I disagree with. It was well written and made what could be a boring subject rather interesting. I think everyone could find something they didn't know even if they have been reading other books about our Presidents.
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Interesting texture of Presidents' lives from food to faith. Surprised how many read the Bible daily and how many actually seemed to enjoy such a tough job.
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This book was a fun and fast read with many interesting details about our presidents from Washington to Obama. While I learn some details that I had not heard about before I was disappointed that the author did not have much to say about some of the presidents. Hoover and Harding to name just two who the author did not have much to say about.
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Kathleen Krull is a master at nonfiction for kids and her Lives of... series is not to be missed.
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"Just the fun facts, please!" You won't find the presidents here (only up to Clinton) judged by our modern values. Sure, there's some mention of early presidents being anti-slavery though they still owned slaves, but modern villains like Andrew Jackson receive fairly glowing entries. So, venture in with that in mind.
If you're looking for fun facts, though, Lives of the Presidents shines. The book is just plain enjoyable, a breezy look at the weird quirks of these leaders of free world. I do wish Kathleen Krull had spent more time examining the largely forgotten presidents instead of focusing on the modern ones. Give me the deets on Polk please! -
Although short chapters and humorous- many parts of the book seemed to be trying to show the scandelous only sode of the Presidents. Although I don't think we should hide from these things, I don't want to use this book as a main resource overview of the Presidents and their accomplishments for my children.
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It was informative. There were some interesting anecdotes about some of the earlier Presidents that I had not read before, and a few of the more recent ones. The books ends with Bill Clinton, so there is nothing with Presidents after that, which shows how dated this one is.
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It has been an interesting year in review about our presidents. We studied one president a week and learned the good, the bad and the ugly....plus some interesting facts. This copy only went until Bill Clinton, so we haven't studied the others who have followed him. But, it was very informative.
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The audio version has many mispronunciations.
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simple yet informative while being fun.
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Super quick easy read. One of the best books I have read this year.
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It’s interesting but it doesn’t go into much depth at all. Just a couple pages per president, but it does share some stuff you don’t generally hear about.
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Easy way to review American history and refresh my memory of recent presidents and events that occurred during their terms in office.
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This is really fun book. I wish they would update it to include the more recent presidents (the books ends with Bill Clinton in office, but before anything had come forth about Monick Lewinsky).
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A little insight regarding most of the presidents of the United States, from George to Obama... I found it interesting
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A fun quick overview of the presidents through Bill Clinton. Nothing amazingly ground breaking but a good brush up and some fun facts. I especially liked the commentary on their relationships with the First Ladies.
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Lives of the Presidents: Fame, Shame, and What the Neighbors Thought is a biography of different presidents intended for the intermediate aged children. This book takes an intimate look into the lives of the presidents beginning with President George Washington and ending with President Bill Clinton. The purpose of the novel is to show a side of each president you haven't seen before including health and how they had come to meet their wives. The characters are real and the plot is factual as far as I know. The illustrations are bright colored caricatures of the presidents and their wives. In the background of these illustrations are details that are relevant to the president or the term or terms the president served. The use of language is informative, simple, and easy to understand. Young intermediate aged readers would find Lives of the Presidents appealing because of the title as well as the caricature drawings of the presidents. As a teaching professional, in a classroom setting I would have my students select a president and do a report on them using what they learned in the book along with another source. I would also have the students draw caricatures of the two most recent presidents not included in the book.
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What were the presidents really like? Kathleen Krull explores their character traits and unusual characteristics. The most popular presidents have stories that cover several pages and describe both common and less well known information about our nation's leaders. Van Buren, Harrison, Tyler, and Polk all share a single page. The information is, to my knowledge, accurate and clearly written. Students who enjoy knowing more about the personalities of our leaders will be interested in learning about Andrew Jackson's wild side and Kennedy's wealthy lifestyle. While the presidents are described in a positive light, they are also presented as real people, some of whom made poor or off-beat choices.
Recommended for the middle school audience. Though the pictures are exaggerated caricatures that seem appealing to elementary students, the reading level and information presented are much more appropriate for older students. This is a great selection for U.S. history teachers and can be used as a quick read aloud throughout a course.
I also must confess that I didn't read this entire book. I chose a sampling to read about -- newer and older, famous and more obscure. -
Grade/interest level: 3-7th grade
Lexile level: 1240L
Genre: Biography, nonfiction
Main Characters: The United States Presidents
Setting: The United States
POV: 3rd person
This biographical book about our nation’s presidents goes beyond the politics and fame. It looks at presidents as they really were, human. The book goes through each president one at a time, giving a biography that includes things you would usually hear. It discusses things like how Garfield would greet guests by barking or how Coolidge had a pet raccoon. It also dispels common myths about the presidents, like how Washington’s teeth were not made of wood. The book is incredibly fun to read and makes a usually boring topic into a fun and exciting adventure through our nation’s history. I also enjoyed the illustrations, which are fun portraits reminiscent of old political cartoons.
This book should be read in a unit about presidents. All kids should read this book when learning about our nation’s leaders because it’ll keep them engaged and entertained. If we want kids to enjoy history, we need to make it fun. This book does. -
I learned of 'Lives of the Presidents' from a review from our local library. It gives a fun and quick glimpse of each president, and focuses on their personal lives: their wives, children, habits, hygiene, personalities and the weird or quirky things about them.
Not only are the details fascinating, they are humanizing. I counted eight presidents who suffered the deaths of some or all of their children. There were many, many stories of the love for and devotion to their wives. There were fun and bizarre facts too: alligators, orange suits, barking like a dog, having wood chucked at the face. I had intended to give more specific samples of facts, but my daughter has had the book for the last week - she got so hooked on it that she's been reading from it to her AP History class!
I really enjoyed it and suggest you give it a go! -
Read by: Mary
Author: Kathleen Krull
Illustrator: Kathryn Hewitt
Interest Level: 3-7
Grade level Equivalent: 7.5
Lexile Measure®: 1240L
Guided Reading: NR
Lives of the President is a book that is about every president of the United States of America. The well known presidents have two to three pages, while the lesser known can have a short paragraph. Along with the vivid pictures, the content can contains some known facts but the majority is lesser known facts about presidents, like different types of pets or bad behavior, to keep the readers avid attention. This would be a good lead in book for Social Studies and to hook the students interest, since it shows figures that are believed above reproach as human and something the students can relate to. -
I have the updated version of this book in my classroom library, but have never read the whole thing. I find facts and bits of information and use in my lessons during Presidents Day. The book is very long, but has lots of information of all our presidents, including Obama. The illustrations are done in a "character-y" way. Such as Obama is wearing a lei, while holding his favorite books and dunking a basketball on a hoop with the word "Hope" written on the back. It talks about the good, the bad, and the ugly of our presidents. Interesting facts such as John Quincy Adams installing the first pool table in the White House and had a pet alligator.
Although I don't read this to my kids, I do tell them interesting facts, which always seems to impress them!
