What To Do About Alice By Barbara Kerley, Illustrated by Edwin Fotheringham

 

What To Do About Alice? By Barbara Kerley, Illustrated by Edwin Fotheringham

 

 

Bibliography: Kerley, Barbara, and Ed Fotheringham. 2008. What to do about Alice?: how Alice Roosevelt broke the rules, charmed the world, and drove her father Teddy crazy! New York: Scholastic Press.

ISBN: 9780439922319

Plot Summary: “From a time she was a little girl, she ate up the world”, is how the adorable picture book biography of the life of Alice Roosevelt, Theodore Roosevelt’s oldest daughter begins. It captures the spontaneity and curiosity of Alice Roosevelt in a clever and easy to read format that is appealing for all ages. The book is colorful and presents Alice’s life in a way that all readers can relate to.  

Critical Analysis: The book What to do about Alice?: how Alice Roosevelt broke the rules, charmed the world, and drove her father Teddy crazy!, is a picture book biography.  This biography is great for read alouds, and the digital illustrations by Fotheringham are bright and vibrant and draw the reader into the story. The text has won many honors for its accurate portrayal of Alice Roosevelt's life. In the Author's note, it provides information about the life of Alice Roosevelt and contains a short bibliography to add to the validity of the text. Supporting the text is a letter that Theodore Roosevelt personally wrote to his daughter. The text is organized in chronological order and begins when Alice is born, following her throughout her life as the Presidents daughter. A clear sequence aligns with the story and it is presented using simple text and details that appeal to all readers. The design of the text is attractive and inviting and the colors are rich with fun illustrations depicting Alice's life. These illustrations are arranged in a variety of ways on each page, complementing the text. The design of the text and illustrations communicates the subject matter in a clear and concise way. The style of the book is lively and depicts the childhood and life of an exuberant, curious, and outgoing girl not afraid to be different and who "ate up the world". Kerley presents the book in an enthusiastic and exciting way, encouraging the reader to find out more about the life of Alice Roosevelt.

Awards Received

·         Sibert Honor Book

·         Boston Globe-Horn Book Honor Book

·         Irma Black Award Honor Book

·         Parents’ Choice Award

·         Washington State Scandiuzzi Children's Book Award

·         California Collections

·         A Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year

·         A School Library Journal Best Book of the Year

·         A Kirkus Reviews Best Book of the Year

·         An ALA Notable Book

Review Excerpts:

·         From Booklist, Starred Review - 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.

·         From Kirkus Starred Review - 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.

·         From School Library Journal - Kerley’s text gallops along with a vitality to match her subject 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 ships swimming pool, and also earns her place in history as one of her fathers trusted advisers. Fotheringham’s digitally rendered, retro-style illustrations are a superb match for the text.

Connections/Activities:

·         Students could compare different texts about Alice Roosevelt.

·         Students can pretend their father is President, and describe what they would act like/do while he is in office in a quickwrite.

·         Students can read similar biographies.

·         Students can research the time period or Alice and write a report.

·         Teachers can use the text to introduce and biography/autobiography unit.

·         Students can research other children that have lived in the White House.

·         Teachers can read aloud the text.

Selected other texts by Barbara Kerley

·         A Home for Mr. Emerson – 978-0545350884

·         Those Rebels, John and Tom – 978-0545222686

·         The Extraordinary Mark Twain - 978-0545125086

Related Texts:

·         Alice: Alice Roosevelt Longworth, from White House Princess to Washington Power Broker by Stacy Cordery - 978-0143114277

·         Alice Roosevelt Longworth by Carol Felsenthal - 978-0399132582

·         Princess Alice: The Life and Times of Alice Roosevelt Longworth by Carol Felsenthal - 978-0312302221

Personal Connections:

This is a great book that I have used in the third grade classroom to introduce biographies. It is a picture book biography read as a story, which allows students to see the layout of the text in chronological order. I think it is a wonderful book that can be used in the elementary classroom and beyond.