Me...Jane

I guess that makes me Tarzan.  I can live with that. 

THREE PROS

*Very few stories I have come across wholly embrace the concept of children following their dreams of making the world a better place while also showing how it could be realized -- this should not be confused with the many out there that, for instance, say kids can be pilots one day because they are fascinated with planes

*I have been very hard on the vast majority of Caldecott-honored books I've come across, but this one is worthy of the recognition it received 

*While Patrick McDonnell's artwork is top banana, his pacing and choice of words is wonderfully ripe as well   

THREE CONS 

*I wish the afterword had complemented the robust text about Jane Goodall with more photos of her as an adult surrounded by chimps

*There are multiple misspellings of "alligator" on the sketch pad page -- even if this is how young Jane chose to write the word, it should have been changed to avoid spawning a generation of kids who will make the same mistake 

*Boys and girls climb trees -- always have, always will - but I'd prefer not to have my son or daughter getting the idea that sitting at roof level for extended periods of time is a perfectly safe and reasonable thing to do 

ONE DAD'S OPINION

Honestly, I never would have thought that one of the first historical figures I would cover on this blog would be someone who is not known for her work with humans.  Nonetheless, when my favorite librarian in the world suggested McDonnell's work, how could I say no?  Thankfully, I was not disappointed in the least!  Go Buy this wonderful book right now -- your family will go ape for it!!                              

BUY / Borrow / Donate / Destroy

President Taft Is Stuck In The Bath

In preparation for this review, I've put on a few pounds.  Okay, I'm lying... but do you think my wife will fall for it? 

THREE PROS

*Author Mac Barnett took (arguably) the funniest Presidential anecdote of all time and deftly made it memorable for even the smallest of Americans

*Meanwhile, Chris Van Dusen's illustrations do a great job of presenting an already humorous situation in an age-appropriate style without sacrificing the accuracy of historical details (in the way he depicts things like President Taft's Cabinet or what a toilet looked like a century ago) 

*The inside jacket acts as the perfect tongue-in-cheek trailer for the story to come   

THREE CONS 

*Even though Mrs. Taft's idea ends up being the one that saves the day, it felt a little misogynistic to watch her husband ignore her input for the majority of the book (although I'm sure Barnett would argue that men of that era would have done that very thing)

*I'm sure most kids walk away from this book thinking that the President actually flew onto the White House lawn naked 

*Taft sure does say the word 'blast' a lot in here -- I'm hoping the writing team was unaware of this entry on Urban Dictionary 

ONE DAD'S OPINION

As most of you know, one of the major reasons I started this blog was to identify stories that were entertaining for the whole family.  PTISITB definitely qualifies on this front.  [I especially enjoyed how they included an afterword devoted to what amounts to an evidentiary hearing about whether this event really occurred.  More than that, I liked how Barnett did not provide his own conclusion.]  Thus, despite some not insignificant cons, Taft is getting my vote for a Buy.  However, like the office of the man it highlights, I would not put him in the top half of my list of best ever in this category...                              

BUY / Borrow / Donate / Destroy