George Washington First president, 1789-1797

Reviewed with Mike Venezia's John Adams0 . Gr. 3-4. Venezia, the author-illustrator behind the expansive Getting to Know . . . series about artists and composers, now brings his goofy sensibility and plainspoken style to bear on U.S. presidents. In keeping with the format established in Venezia's previous books, each title is abundantly illustrated with cartoons that play fast and loose with historical detail. In Adams, 0 for instance, text about British taxation shows a frustrated colonist examining the stamps affixed to each square in a modern roll of toilet paper. Some misconceptions may result, but there are many advantages in associating biography with entertainment early in kids' reading careers, and Venezia sticks to the facts in the main text. Other types of images (primarily high-quality fine-art reproductions) are also interspersed among the sillier gags, providing fleeting glimpses of the gravitas typically associated with the founding fathers. The absence of a table of contents, a glossary, and an index makes these inappropriate for nonfiction reading assignments intended to familiarize young readers with common reference features. --Jennifer Mattson Copyright 2004 Booklist

Gr 1-3-Could there possibly be anything funny about George Washington or John Quincy Adams? According to Venezia, yes. While clearly written texts provide the facts, humorous, comic-booklike color graphics complete with dialogue bubbles depict aspects of the presidents' lives. Readers will be drawn to the books because of these illustrations, and captivated by them. The format also includes large type, abundant white space, and reproductions of historical paintings. With enough information for reports, these titles are must-have additions to collections, especially those short on biographies for reluctant or beginning readers.-Carol Foreman, Elbert School, CO (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.