Genre 4, Book 2: WHAT TO DO ABOUT ALICE? by Barbara Kerley

Image: Google Images

Bibliographic Data  

Kerley, Barbara. 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: 0439922313. Illustrated by Edwin Fotheringham.

Plot Summary

This biography describes Alice Roosevelt’s zany exploits from child to adulthood, explores her relationship with her father, and throws the reader into her quest for zest in her life.

Critical Analysis

Kerley delights readers with this true tale of the rambunctious Alice Roosevelt, whose enthusiasm for life could not be contained… not even by her remarkable father Teddy! She didn’t want to hear “The poor little thing” because her mother died when she was two, or when she had to wear leg braces growing up. Instead, she threw herself into whatever fun she could find and “ate up the world.” Homeschooled, she cried all summer when her father said he’d had enough of her antics and was sending her to a boarding school. He relented, and she taught herself many subjects in his library. She was 17 when her father became President, and she helped her stepmother care for her younger siblings. Even in the White House, she was mischievous, greeting visitors with her pet snake in tow. Teddy told people “I can be president of the United States, or I can control Alice. I cannot possibly DO BOTH.” 

Alice became an ambassador for her father and, though the public adored her, she often ended up in the papers for her unladylike behavior. She drove cars instead of riding in carriages, stayed out late, and even bet on a horse race! On a trip overseas, Alice met a congressman, Nicholas Longworth, whom she later married. She became very active in politics, but still sowed joyous seeds of chaos and harmless mischief in polite society for amusement’s sake. The story ends with telling how her father helped the country through difficult times, but he never did solve the problem of “what to do about Alice?” 

Written for children ages 4-8, this book does an excellent job of weaving actual quotes and facts from letters into this simple narrative. There are a few words parents or teachers may need to define when sharing this book, like “voraciously” and “gamboled”, but most of the text is written in language readily understood by young children. The digital illustrations created by Edwin Fotheringham are marvelous, and help the reader see what life and clothing styles looked like for people living in the early 1900s. 

Swirling lines and patterns in the drawings help convey the frenetic activity of Alice’s life, and keep the reader eagerly turning the pages. Kerley does an incredible job of telling one woman’s remarkable life simply and with humor. I was most amused by the last picture in the book of Teddy in Mount Rushmore with his eyes open, still watching over an adult Alice as she rushes past to her next adventure. Young or old, Alice was an unstoppable force, and children will love hearing about her action-filled life.

Awards 

This book has won numerous awards, including:

• Sibert Honor Book
• Boston Globe-Horn Book Honor Book
• Irma Black Award Honor Book
• Parent’s 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
• Capitol Choices
• New York Public Library 100 Titles for Reading and Sharing
• Nominated for Young Reader awards in Texas, Illinois, Utah and Tennessee

          

Reviews

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."
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."

The Horn Book: "With a palette that emphasizes Alice Blue, her signature color, the illustrations often match Alice's spirit with zigzag streaks, circular pieces of spot art, and slanting figures. . . . What to do about Alice? Enjoy!"

The New York Times Book Review: "In her award-winning picture book biographies of Walt Whitman and Waterhouse Hawkins, Barbara Kerley has shown an affinity for iconoclasts, as she does once again in ‘What to Do About Alice?’ Kerley reveals the essence of Alice in an upbeat account of her life, dramatizing Alice's love of ‘eating up the world,’ as she put it. Kerley's text plays straight man to the punch line of Edwin Fotheringham's mischievous artwork."

Connections

Enrichment Activities

Alice’s father was President, and she married a congressman. As a result, she became very active in politics and often advised the men in her life on political matters. Ask your kids if they had the chance to advise the President or a congressman on a political matter, what would they say to him or her? Another activity would be to have them practice giving advice by writing a letter they might send to a politician regarding an issue that is important to them offering their advice.

The author suggests numerous activities for students to engage in after reading this book: http://www.barbarakerley.com/TRAlice.html

 

Related Readings

Other books by Kerley:

• The Extraordinary Mark Twain (According to Susy) by Barbara Kerley (Scholastic Press, 2010)
• One World, One Day by Barbara Kerley (National Geographic Children’s Books, 2009)
• Greetings From Planet Earth by Barbara Kerley (Scholastic Inc., 2010)
• A Little Peace by Barbara Kerley (National Geographic Children’s Books, 2007)
• You and Me Together: Moms, Dads, and Kids Around the World by Barbara Kerley (National Geographic Children’s Books, 2010)
• Walt Whitman: Words for America by Barbara Kerley (Scholastic Press, 2004)
• A Cool Drink of Water by Barbara Kerley (National Geographic Children’s Books, 2006)
• The Dinosaurs of Waterhouse Hawkins by Barbara Kerley (Scholastic Paperbacks, 2009)
• Songs of Papa's Island by Barbara Kerley (Houghton Mifflin, 1995)

More books on the Roosevelts:

• Mind Your Manners, Alice Roosevelt! by Leslie Kimmelman (Peachtree Publishers, 2009)
• Time For Kids: Theodore Roosevelt: The Adventurous President by Editors Of Time For Kids (HarperCollins, 2005)
• Theodore Roosevelt for Kids: His Life and Times, 21 Activities (For Kids series) by Kerrie Logan Hollihan (Chicago Review Press, 2010)
• Franklin Delano Roosevelt for Kids: His Life and Times with 21 Activities by Richard Panchyk (Chicago Review Press, 2007)
• Eleanor: A Scrapbook Look at Eleanor Roosevelt's Remarkable Life by Candace Fleming (Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing / Atheneum, 2005)

Other biography books for kids:

• Black Potatoes: The Story of the Great Irish Famine, 1845-1850 by Susan Campbell Bartoletti  (Sandpiper, 2005)
• Amelia And Eleanor Go For A Ride by Pam Munoz Ryan (Scholastic Press, 1999)
• Martin's Big Words: The Life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. by Doreen Rappaport (Hyperion Book CH, 2007)
• Lincoln: A Photobiography by Russell Freedman (Sandpiper, 1989)
• Freedom Train: The Story of Harriet Tubman by Dorothy Sterling (Scholastic Paperbacks, 1987)
• Helen Keller by Margaret Davidson (Scholastic Paperbacks, 1989)
• Louis Braille, The Boy Who Invented Books For The Blind by Margaret Davidson (Scholastic Paperbacks, 1991)