John Adams: Second President 1797-1801 (Getting to Know the U.S. Presidents)
Reviewed with Mike Venezia'sGeorge Washington.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. InAdams, 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 MattsonCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.