President Adams' Alligator and Other White House Pets 

by Peter W. Barnes and Cheryl Shaw Barnes

Summary:

President Adams' Alligator and Other White House Pets by Peter W. Barnes and Cheryl S. Barnes  is a story about the United States presidents and their pets. It starts off with Mrs. Tucker's classroom talking about what their favorite pet is. She then starts to tell the children about the different pets presidents have had in the White House from George Washington to Bill Clinton.

Evaluation:

 This is a great book for teaching children about presidents in a not so boring way. It also introduces the concept of voting by having a ballot at the end of the book that the reader can fill out for their favorite White House pet. I had no idea that there were some pretty non conventional pets in the white house. For example, Thomas Jefferson had two pet grizzly bears and a pet mockingbird named Dick. Jefferson would let Dick eat food out of his mouth and sing along when he played the violin. President Lincoln loved all kinds of animals and gave many to his children. President Lincoln gave his son Tad two goads named Nanny and Nanko, who Tad would tie up to a kitchen chair and race through the halls of the White House. The illustrations in this book are very colorful color pencil drawings that are delightful to the reader. This is a great book for teachers when teaching about the U.S. presidents, Presidents Day, as well as the electoral process.

Genre & Age Group:

Nonfiction

5-8 and up