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The blend of creative illustrations and informative text, written for the student, makes this a great book to have in any Social Studies class. The author uses dialogue that is simple to understand and, yet, informative. Background history on the Presidency and on the Presidency laws are humorous and straightforward. The illustrator uses caricature style artwork to aid in enhancing the text. This is appropriate, as political cartoons are often done in this style.
Specifics given, about different Presidents, aid in increasing the interest for the reader. Taft having a special tub built for the White House is one such tidbit of trivia that increases interest in learning about the Presidency. The main idea of how to become President is shown in a convoluted way through describing different Presidents' histories and campaigns. This does not diminish the author's ability to bring a complicated issue of becoming and being President from being marvelous

Does your child ever say they want to be president some day? Or maybe they have started to study our past leaders in school but show no interest in learning about a bunch of dead guys? In either case, and many others, the book So You Want to Be President written by Judith St. George and illustrated by David Small may be just what is needed to pique your child's curiosity.
This brightly colored book gives all kinds of interesting and odd facts about all of our past presidents. It does not try to explain all of the complex duties the office entails so it is not beyond a child's range of understanding. And though the reading level is more for a youth of 5th grade or higher, the intriguing tidbits make for an interesting read for adults as well.
So You Want to Be President offers such details as "The president does not have to eat yucky vegetables...George Bush grew up, he became President. That was the end of broccoli," which appeals to almost every child's dislike of green nasty things and makes a connection for them with the an adult who held the highest station in our country. Other bits like the fact that Truman owned a men's shop, Andrew Johnson was a tailor and Reagan was an actor relays the idea that anyone can become President, no matter their beginnings. Yet another page of the book makes sure that the reader knows that one of the most important virtues needed to be the leader of the free world is honesty. St. George sights the impeachment of Clinton and the resignation of Nixon as examples. She states them as facts without the controversial sides that accompanied the issues.
In the last pages of the book, St. George lists each president and by what their term is most remembered. This gives a little more history than just the fun facts earlier in on. To go along with this, the illustrations are all charactures of each of the presidents. Each picture ties in with its text in a fun and attention drawing way. Because of this, even a child being read to because they are not at the reading level required can participate in the fun and learn something as well.
This book is a humorous look at presidents from the past including odd little details like which ones played instruments, who lived in log cabins, and who was the biggest, smallest, tallest, or shortest ever in office. It mixes education with fun by using true charactures in its bright illustrations finishing with explanations of each and every president. It is an excellent book to add to your child's shelf.

You can learn so much about the presidents from this book. I learned things the first time I read it! The illustrations are excellent and the style is fun. I love this book and kids love it, too.