This Little President: A Presidential Primer

This is such a cute book! The illustrations are colorful and fun to look at, and it's highly educational; even I learned some new things about our presidents while flipping through it! Presidents included are Washington, Adams, Jefferson, Lincoln, Grant, T. Roosevelt, F. Roosevelt, Kennedy, Reagan, and Obama; each of those presidents is featured on a double page with a little rhyme and a fun fact about him. Some of those fun facts are, for example, who was the youngest president to ever get elected, who was the oldest, who was the first president, and which president were teddy bears named after. The last double page contains an overview of all presidents so far, excluding our current commander-in-chief; I believe the book was released before he was elected. I think that my 3-year old is still a little young to fully understand what a president is or what he does, or to even grasp the message of some of the rhymes, but this is still a great book for her to become familiar with some of the important presidents. There's some very cute details in the illustrations, and my toddler loves to even just flip through the book and talk about what she sees. All in all, a very cute book that I would recommend to any toddler or young child!

We got this toward the end of the election season as a way to help teach our sons (5 & 2 1/2) about what they were hearing discussed regularly in the news and around the dinner table. I thought it would be helpful, but I had no idea it would quickly become one of their favorite books! I don't know how many times they've both chosen this as their bedtime story (there aren't many other books they can agree on). Thanks to this appealing primer, the presidents have quickly entered the family lexicon. This was a fantastic way to explain what was happening, talk about the structure and functions of our government, and introduce them to abstract concepts like history, representation, accountability, public service, legacy, duty, and respecting differences. The book highlights several "first" presidents with memorable rhymes and caricatures. The featured presidents include Washington, John Adams, Jefferson, Lincoln, Grant (did you know he made Christmas a federal holiday? He's one of their faves), Teddy Roosevelt, FDR, JFK, Reagan, and Obama (I did that from memory. I think that's it, but I may be missing one). The last two-page spread has a caricatured portrait of each President with his name underneath. One of our boys' favorite things to do when we read this is to stop on this page and point to as many portraits as they can get away with (before we tell them it's bedtime) and ask us the president's name and what he did. It's been a great test of knowledge for my husband and I (both Government majors). It's also given us the opportunity to teach them ways to learn more about people/topics when you don't know all the answers off the top of your head. The last portrait is empty with a question mark and reads "You." Our five-year-old really keyed in on this and has started talking about becoming President and what the qualifications of the office are. We highly recommend this to anyone with preschoolers!

This is an extremely cute and non-partisan board book of presidents showcasing some of the more notable presidents from across the political spectrum (Washington, Adams, Jefferson, Lincoln, Grant, Teddy Roosevelt, FDR, Kennedy, Reagan, Obama). It is very positive, simple, sweet and educational. The rhymes are also catchy. At the end there is an illustrated list of all the presidents. Our 1-year-old loves it.

I am a history nut and this book is a great, easy to read introduction for my boys

Cute book, bright colors, has the main few presidents that history likes to focus on. My 2.5 yr old does like this book, it does get a little long. We got this book because we went to Washington DC and wanted to read more about the history and the presidents for our trip. My kiddo loves Lincoln the best and asks "where's the girl president?" Also, she thinks G. Washington is a girl because of the hair... hehe :)