Y-Bling Book Reviews: What to Do About Alice?

A. Bibliography

Kerley, Barabara, and Ed Fotheringham. What to Do about Alice?: How Alice Roosevelt

Broke the Rules, Charmed the World, and Drove Her Father Teddy Crazy! New York:

Scholastic, 2008.

ISBN: 978-0-545-12325-9

B. Plot Summary

Alice Roosevelt was the oldest of Theodore Roosevelt's children and was a slight handful for the former president of the United States. In the beginning of the book it states, "Theodore Roosevelt had a small problem." The beginning line of the book appropriately sets the stage for what will transpire with Alice Roosevelt throughout the rest of the book. The book is a snippet of Alice's life from childhood to adulthood. Barbara Kerley captures the spunk and independent nature of Alice and offers readers wonderful insight into her life and what it was like to raise Alice.

C. Critical Analysis

Barbara Kerley does a beautiful job of crafting an easy to read and enjoyable biography that keeps readers interested in the vast activities of Alice Roosevelt. In Kerley’s author notes, she mentions what sources she used for the quotes in What to Do About Alice: How Alice Roosevelt Broke the Rules, Charmed the World, and Drove Her Father Teddy Crazy! I love how Kerley felt the need to bold and capitalize every letter of some words. This change in font and size really helps the reader realize how important these words are in understanding the story.

The biography follows a chronological order starting with Alice as a young child. With every turn of the page, the reader watches Alice grow-up and also learns about the mayhem she causes for her father. We also see that as she gets older, the United States as well as other countries began to love Alice as much as her father, Teddy, did. The story line is simple and easy for young readers to follow. In fact, Kerley does a great job of making this story relate-able for early readers.

Edwin Fotheringham’s illustrations in What To Do About Alice? are exquisite and add meaning to every page of the story. I love how Fotheringham captured Alice’s daydream of hanging with monkeys as Miss Spence’s boarding school walked under her window. The illustration shows us what she would do with a pet monkey if she had one. Another fantastic example of how the words and illustrations fit nicely together is on pages 16 and 17 where Alice is pictured riding her bike down a hill, her leg braces flying off in the distance, her feet on the handle bars, her hands in the air, a shadow of Theodore Roosevelt in the corner of the page and the word “CAUTIOUS” is in all capitol letter and bolded. I love this relationship between the words of the book and the illustrations. Not only is the book well written for young readers, but it is beautifully illustrated in a way that offers deeper meaning for the reader.

D. Review Excerpt

Publishers Weekly says this about What To Do About Alice?, "It’s hard to imagine a picture book biography that could better suit its subject than this high-energy volume serves young Alice Roosevelt. Kerley (The Dinosaurs of Waterhouse Hawkins ) knows just how to introduce her to contemporary readers: “Theodore Roosevelt had a small problem. It wasn’t herding thousands of cattle across the Dakota badlands. He’d done that. It wasn’t leading the Rough Riders.... He’d bagged a grizzly bear, captured outlaws, governed the state of New York, and served as vice president of the United States, and still he had a problem. Her name was Alice.” Debut illustrator Fotheringham creates the perfect mood from the start: his stylish digital art sets a fast pace, making use of speed lines (rendered in dots, these earn their names) and multiple vignettes to evoke characters in perpetual motion. His compositions wittily incorporate headlines, iconic images and plenty of Alice blue, too. Kids will embrace a heroine who teaches her younger stepsiblings to sled down the White House stairs (“Alice tried to be helpful,” Kerley writes soberly as Fotheringham shows her in action), entertains dignitaries with her pet snake and captivates a nation with pranks and high jinks. Ages 4-8. (Apr.)" http://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-439-92231-9

E. Awards

Sibert Honor Book
Boston Globe-Horn Book Honor Book
Irma Black Award Honor Book
Parents Choice Award
Washington State Scandiuzzi Children's Book Award
California Collections
A Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year
A School Library Journal Best Book of the Year
A Kirkus Reviews Best Book of the Year
An ALA Notable Book
Capitol Choices
New York Public Library 100 Titles for Reading and Sharing

Texas Bluebonnet List 2009-2010

F. Connections

Author's Website: http://www.barbarakerley.com/Site/Welcome.html

Illustrator's Website: http://www.edfotheringham.com/

Lesson Plan for book: http://www.barbarakerley.com/TRAlice.html

G. Other Books by Barbara Kerley