NONFICTION & BIOGRAPHY - What to Do About Alice?

 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. ISBN 9780439922313 

PLOT SUMMARY

This biography captures the life of Alice Lee Roosevelt, the oldest daughter of President Theodore Roosevelt, and the troubles she may have caused. The book starts by explaining that Alice’s mother died just two days after her birth and that she was a very strong-willed independent child. The book travels with her through her life as she rode her bicycle and roamed the streets of Washington. She did not like to feel like she could not explore the world just because he was President of the United States. She would go against the norm by continuing to ride her bike, drive her own runabout, betting on horse races, and even two-stepping until the early hours of the next morning. The biography ends with showing Alice marrying a congressman and continuing to be an active role in politics.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS

This was a cute picture book turned biography with not only illustrations but also some photographs of Alice. I really enjoyed that the pages were not only showing what Alice was doing but her father’s reaction as well. The images reminded me of what we the everyday dad is like in real life too. The illustrator does a wonderful job highlighting Alice’s carefree attitude in life. Sometimes highlighting her with a pet snake around her arm, jumping fulling clothed in a pool, or riding around on her bicycle.

The author uses a bit of humor and makes the book enjoyable for a reader of any age. Her style with words keeps the reader wanting to know what happens next.

This book also includes a few pages from the author that include background information she gathered about Alice’s life, including quotes from both Alice and Mr. Roosevelt.  The author also includes the sources she used to help others know that this book is completely non-fiction. 

REVIEW EXCERPT(S)

BOOKLIST: “The large format gives Fotheringham, in his debut, plenty of room for spectacular art, which includes use of digital media. In almost every picture, Alice is running, motoring, racing. One clever spread shows what it was like to be a media princess: newspaper pages fly across the spread, obscuring Alice.”

 

HORN BOOK MAGAZINE: “This sassy biography of Alice Roosevelt Longworth validates President Theodore Roosevelt's famous quip about his oldest child: "I can be president of the United States, or I can control Alice. I cannot possibly do both." Spunky and headstrong, Alice "was hungry to go places, meet people, do things. Father called it 'running riot.' Alice called it 'eating up the world.'" Readers can call her actions what they will as they follow Alice sneaking out at night; riding trays down the White House stairs; or diving, fully clothed, into a ship's pool.”

 

KIRKUS: “Theodore Roosevelt's irrepressible oldest child receives an appropriately vivacious appreciation in this superb picture book. 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.”

 

LIBRARY MEDIA CONNECTION: “This successful melding of text and pictures showcases the life of Teddy Roosevelt's irrepressible daughter, Alice. A subdued palette with touches of red highlights the vitality of the subject matter. Large cartoon-like images of Teddy and Alice effectively convey their larger-than-life personalities.” 

 

PUBLISHERS WEEKLY: “It's hard to imagine a picture book biography that could better suit its subject than this high-energy volume serves young Alice Roosevelt.”

 

SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL: “Kerley brings another historical figure to life. Kerley's text gallops along with 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.”

 

CONNECTIONS

• Social Studies: Use when introducing presidents and their families.

• Social Studies or ELAR: Great resource to begin a study over biographies and how they are written. 

• Other biographies by Barbara Kerley:

• Kerley, B. THE DINOSAURS OF WATERHOUSE HAWKINS. ISBN 9780439114950

• Kerley, B. THE EXTRAORDINARY MARK TWAIN (According to Suzy). ISBN 9780545125081

• Kerley, B. WALT WHITMAN: WORDS FOR AMERICA. ISBN 9780439357918