Book Review: WHAT TO DO ABOUT ALICE?

Book Review, Genre 4: WHAT TO DO ABOUT ALICE? HOW ALICE ROOSEVELT BROKE THE RULES, CHARMED THE WORLD, AND DROVE HER FATHER TEDDY CRAZY!

Author: Barbara Kerley

Title: What to do About Alice? How Alice Roosevelt Broke the Rules, Charmed the World, and Drove Her Father Teddy Crazy!

Illustrator: Edwin Fotheringham

Publisher: Scholastic Press

Publication Date: 2008

ISBN: 9780439922319

Plot summary: A biography of Alice Roosevelt, the daughter of Theodore Roosevelt and his first wife, who continuously sought adventure and caused trouble for her father in the White House.

Critical analysis: Author Barbara Kerley says she was inspired to write What to do About Alice? after seeing a picture of Alice Roosevelt looking glamorous and intelligent in a magazine and learning that “her high jinks captivated America and drove her father crazy.” Kerley accurately depicts the restraint expected of woman at the turn of the century and Alice’s desire to change the status quo.

What to do About Alice? is organized chronologically and opens with a few pages on Teddy Roosevelt’s accomplishments; one of which was his daughter and her desire to “eat up the world.” Readers learn about Alice from her birth, the physical obstacles she had to overcome, how she hated being referred to as “The Poor Little Thing!”, and how she succeeded in living a zestful life.

In addition to reading about her high jinks, readers can infer Alice’s pranks and attitudes on life through the digital media illustrations by Edwin Fotheringham. The artwork’s design lends itself to being pulled off the shelf, the colors and use of different fonts will draw the readers in to learn more about Alice.

Kerley’s writing style is lively and moves in a dance with the artwork. Key phrases are emphasized in bold block lettering and reinforced in the illustrations. For example, “Father couldn’t bear to see Alice so unhappy. When school started in the fall, Alice stayed home after all. She came up with her own solution for her education. She said to Father, ‘LET ME LOOSE IN YOUR LIBRARY.’ She taught herself astronomy, geology, even Greek grammar. She read Twain, Dickens, Darwin, and the Bible, cover to cover. Every morning she told Father what she had learned the day before.” The double-page illustration shows Alice zooming about a library with books on the mentioned subjects sitting on a table while Teddy’s taxidermied animals look on.

The book finishes with an Author’s Note about the different roles of Alice: sister, princess, and monument. This is an excellent book to add to a school library’s children’s biography section because Alice’s influence helped change attitudes towards how women should behave. Girls will feel empowered after reading this book.

Review excerpt:

• Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Honor, 2009.
• Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young People, 2009.

• Kirkus Reviews, February 1, 2008 (Vol. 76, No. 3): Theodore Roosevelt's irrepressible oldest child receives an appropriately vivacious appreciation in this superb picture book. "From the time she was a little girl, Alice ate up the world." Taking her thematic approach from Alice's own self-description, Kerley's precise text presents readers with a devilishly smart, strong-willed girl who was determined to live life on her own terms and largely succeeded. 

• Booklist, Jan. 1, 2008 (Vol. 104, No. 9) by Ilene Cooper: The large format gives Fotheringham, in his debut, plenty of room for spectacular art, which includes use of digital media. In almost every picture, Alice is running, motoring, racing. One clever spread shows what it was like to be a media princess: newspaper pages fly across the spread, obscuring Alice.

Connections:

• Librarians could do a study on biographies of the Roosevelts ending in a Living Wax Museum (for ideas, do an internet search for “living wax museum”) presentation by the students. In addition to What to do About Alice?, students could read:

Bully for You, Teddy Roosevelt! By Jean Fritz ISBN: 0590455168 

Eleanor Roosevelt by Russell Freedman ISBN: 0590489097 

Who Was Franklin Roosevelt? By Margaret Frith IBSN: 9780448453460

• Students can visit author Barbara Kerley’s web site to learn more about her, her works and view book trailers: http://www.barbarakerley.com/Site/Welcome.html

• Students can visit illustrator Edwin Fotheringham’s website to view more of his artwork: http://www.edfotheringham.com/

• Other books by author Barbara Kerley:

The Dinosaurs of Waterhouse Hawkins: An Illuminating History of Mr. Waterhouse Hawkins, Artist and Lecturer ISBN: 0439114942

The Extraordinary Mark Twain (According to Susy) ISBN: 9780545125086

Those Rebels, John and Tom ISBN: 9780545222686

A Home for Mr. Emerson ISBN: 9780545350884

Bibliography

Cover, Mount Juliet, Tennessee. Personal photograph by Amy Wilson. October 12, 2016.

Kerley, B., & Fotheringham, E. (2008). What to do about Alice?: How Alice Roosevelt broke the rules, charmed the world, and drove her father Teddy crazy!. New York: Scholastic Press. 9780439922319