Nonfiction Review: What To Do About Alice? By Barbara Kerley ill. By Edwin Fotheringham

What To Do About Alice? By Barbara Kerley ill. By Edwin Fotheringham 1. BIBLIOGRAPHY Kerley, Barbara. 2008. WHAT TO DO ABOUT ALICE?. Ill. by Edwin Fotheringham. New York: Scholastic. ISBN 978-0439922319 2. SUMMARY This picture book biography tells about the life and antics of Alice Roosevelt, daughter of Theodore Roosevelt. She is wild, charming, and wants nothing more than to explore the world, all while driving her father crazy. 3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS Barbara Kerley paints Alice Roosevelt as a girl who can’t be tamed using quotes and stories about Alice’s life in and outside of The White House. In the back of the book, Kerley goes into more depth in her notes about Alice that reveal a slightly darker and more troubled side of her. However, Kerley does a great job of making Alice relatable and comical for children. The stories Kerley includes about Alice are cohesive but provide a broad look throughout the span of Alice’s life, not only her childhood. The direct quotes from or about Alice perfectly fit into the stories and are in quotation marks and cited in the back of the book by the author, reminding readers that although entertaining, these stories are still factual. Fotheringham’s vibrant and detailed illustrations (including having Alice in her namesake color Alice Blue) will have children laughing along and wondering just what will Theodore do about Alice! 4. REVIEW EXCERPT(S) PUBLISHER’S 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.” 5. CONNECTIONS *Have students create a character traits chart for Alice Roosevelt. *Allow students to research other president’s daughters and compare their lives to the life of Alice.