This timely presidential fact book takes a unique approach to peering into the lives of the presidents of the United States. Messner selects several dates in history and highlights a short fact that states where the current and future presidents who were alive during that year could be found. Some future presidents were already in politics, some in school or working jobs, and others were still children.
Interspersed between the dates are “snapshots,” with more in-depth information about a particular president, or as in the example below, some of the White House pets.
These snippets of information are designed to showcase that the future president could be just about anyone, and ultimately highlight for the child reader the idea that even they could be president someday. The book ends with some speculation about who the next ten presidents, who are probably already alive, might be. This final illustration shows three children who are thinking, growing, and considering the future that they might lead.
The end pages also include a few additional facts, including presidential requirements, a map of presidential birthplaces, further reading resources, and an extensive bibliography.
Messner’s carefully researched and written facts are accompanied by Rex’s beautiful illustrations. The team doesn’t shy away from some of the less glamorous aspects of history, including the too often overlooked labor of slaves that were owned by the founding fathers.
Messner and Rex do a fairly good job of remaining impartial, although some user reviewers have complained about the inclusion of an image of Hilarie Clinton towards the end of the book, and felt there should have been more information about President Donald Trump (EllieMae et all, 2020). Despite these criticisms, the book received high acclaim from literary reviews, including starred reviews from School Library Journal, Publisher’s Weekly, Booklist, and Horn Book Magazine.
The Next President provides a unique take on United States presidential history, and would be a great book for a child looking for an overview, or one simply wanting to know a few more facts about previous presidents. This book would make an excellent addition to a class or school library, and is also a timely book to read with children for the 2020 and future presidential elections.
Some companion books to consider are:
This book would be a great next step after reading The Next President, as it covers all 45 presidents of the United States and goes more in-depth into information about their lives, the White House, and the U.S. presidency. Full color photographs and illustrations accompany the information, making it an engaging and browsable book for readers.
This fun and sometimes goofy book gives insights into the childhoods of the first 44 U.S. Presidents. Accompanied with cartoons and short chapters, this book is perfect for a history fan, whether they want to flip through and pick out their favorite presidents, or read it cover to cover. Kid Presidents goes more in-depth than The Next President and also makes these imposing figures of history a little more relatable to modern kids.
While Grace for President is a fictional story, it makes an excellent companion to The Next President. This appealing story introduces young readers to important information about the election process, including the electoral college, and also ties well into the idea that any child could be the next President of the United States.
References:
EllieMae et al. (2020). The next president: The unexpected beginnings and unwritten future of america’s presidents. Amazon.com. https://www.amazon.com/Next-President-Unexpected-Beginnings-Presidents/dp/1452174881/
Messner, K. (2020). The next president: The unexpected beginnings and unwritten future of america’s presidents. Chronicle Books.
Hi Debbie! The book you chose to review looks so good! I actually added it to my to-read list. The illustrations are beautiful and the subject matter is very relevant. I also noted how the author mentioned founding fathers owning slaves. I noticed in the background of p. 8-9, there are Black laborers building the white house and painting George Washington's portrait. That's an accurate representation for sure. I actually just listened to a two-part podcast about the construction and history of the White House on the show Stuff You Missed in History Class! It was fascinating and I learned a lot. Here (https://www.iheart.com/podcast/stuff-you-missed-in-history-cl-21124503/episode/the-white-house-and-its-legacy-70521685/) is the link to the show, if you were interested in learning a bit more about the White House specifically. The read-alikes you suggested are great. I love the idea of kids reading these books and dreaming and working their whole lives to become president.
ReplyDeleteDebbie, I laughed out loud when I saw your review because I put a hold on this exact book yesterday for a review of my own! Your review was wonderful and I'm glad you beat me to it! I have read a Nerdy Book Club blog post about this book written by Kate Messner all the way back in March (https://nerdybookclub.wordpress.com/2020/03/24/illustrating-the-next-president-author-kate-messner-interviews-illustrator-adam-rex/) and it had me intrigued. I'm glad you brought up the political side of this book that is based on those choosing to being political! I think remaining unbiased when writing a book on presidents has GOT to be difficult...like a very public version of when librarians are adding books on political figures to our libraries. For example, I ordered a very basic, 32 page book on Donald Trump when he was first elected. So many things have changed since then, but I found it difficult to order another one because I knew so much research would have to go into the order. I am sure Messner was faced with many of the same decisions, knowing that many more people would be reading this book than looking up books in a small town Indiana school library! I'll add more thoughts once my hold comes in and I have a chance to read it too! Great job!
ReplyDeleteRenee