This Little President {Book Review}

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Yesterday was President's Day - and what better way to celebrate than to read a cute new book on the topic?

There are plenty of books out there for little ones highlighting fairy tales, nursery rhymes, sweet, fictional family stories and even a bit of science (primarily focusing on things like animals and vehicles), but just how often have you noticed a history book for the wee set?

It's pretty rare.

It was even difficult to find early elementary picture books on historical subjects for my classroom - especially when you rule out anything having to do with the first Thanksgiving, which seems to be all that shows up during a search.

Oh, I do have a small little collection of historical nonfiction, mainly touching on a few presidents, their pets, funny White House facts, and my beloved Who Was series books, which cover all sorts of historical figures, but none of these are appropriate for Gv right now, and some not for several years.

That's why I was so excited when I went searching for board or early elementary picture books related to historical topics and discovered this adorable gem:

 

And then even more excited when author Joan Holub sent me a copy so that Gv and I could check it out for ourselves! (I was in no way asked to write a positive review.)

What better way to introduce the youngest learners to the presidents than with a board book?

Filled with fun, colorful graphics and engaging, rhyming text, this "Presidential Primer" is the perfect preamble for the littlest of learners.

Focusing on ten stand-out leaders of our country, it's just the right size to provide a tiny taste of what makes our country so special - and while it includes common facts like who the first, tallest, youngest and oldest presidents were, I especially loved the pages sharing which president made Christmas a federal holiday (Grant) or created our awesome national parks (T. Roosevelt).

Gv fell in love with this book even before I finished opening the mail - she knew it was meant for her right off the bat and began shouting, "Mine! Mine! Mine!" like a crazed seagull.

I handed it to her, thinking she'd return it in a minute, but instead she rushed right over to a cozy little nook in her bedroom, where she started "reading" it immediately - even though she'd never seen it before or was even remotely familiar with the subject matter.

When she'd finally exhausted her search of the book on her own, she brought it over and we were able to read it together.

Besides the fun rhymes, Gv loved discovering all the little details in the illustrations (such as Reagan holding a jar of jellybeans) and we have probably flipped to the last two pages of the book (with pictures of ALL the presidents, in order) every single day since the book arrived.

(Gv and I sing my little self-made-in-11th-grade presidents song as we point to each picture, just like we do with the back of this book and the states!)

I'm so excited to have been given this opportunity and This Little President has already become one of our family favorites, which saying a lot, since we like just a few books around here. {grin}

I was also super-excited to learn that Joan Holub has a follow-up book coming out soon, titled This Little Explorer, in which she again partners up with illustrator Daniel Roode and they provide a pioneer primer to add to your library.  

I can't wait!

Joan Holub is the author of about a zillion children's books already - known especially for her Goddess Girls and Heroes in Training series, which follows the young Greek Gods and Goddesses in their fun adventures (I can't wait for Gv to be old enough for these!), as well as several of the Who Was/What Was series that I so frequently mention loving.  (You just might see an upcoming review on one of those here, as well!)


Do you get just as frustrated as I do at the lack of historical children's books out there?  I'd love to hear!  Either leave a comment below or email me at lisahealy (at) outlook (dot) com.

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