
By Kate Messner, Adam Rex
Discover the future presidents among us today. Could it be you?
Explore the lives of America's presidents before they took office. From George Washington to JFK, future leaders were once kids with dreams. Today, ten future presidents are out there, playing, learning, and growing. Could one of them be you? Dive into this engaging journey through history and imagine the possibilities.
An inspiring and informative book for kids about the past and future of America’s presidents.
Who will be the NEXT president? Could it be you? When George Washington became the first president of the United States, there were nine future presidents already alive in America, doing things like practicing law or studying medicine.
When JFK became the thirty-fifth president, there were 10 future presidents already alive in America, doing things like hosting TV shows and learning the saxophone.
And right now—today!—there are at least 10 future presidents alive in America. They could be playing basketball, like Barack Obama, or helping in the garden, like Dwight D. Eisenhower. They could be solving math problems or reading books. They could be making art—or already making change.
• A breezy, kid-friendly survey of American history and American presidents
• Great for teachers, librarians, and other educators
• Kate Messner’s nonfiction picture books have been lauded by critics and received a variety of awards.
For young readers and students who loved The New Big Book of Presidents, Lincoln and Kennedy: A Pair to Compare, and Kid Presidents: True Tales of Childhood from America’s Presidents.
A helpful addition to curriculums of 5th- to 8th-grade students studying U.S. History and civics and the federal government.
• For readers ages 8–12
• U.S. history for kids
• Students, librarians, teachers
• 5th–8th-grade kids
From award-winning author Kate Messner and New York Times bestselling artist Adam Rex comes a timely and compelling compendium about the U.S. presidents—before they were presidents.
Kate Messner is an award-winning author whose many books for kids have been selected as Best Books by the New York Times, Junior Library Guild, IndieBound, and Bank Street College of Education. She lives on Lake Champlain with her family.
Adam Rex is the author and illustrator of many beloved picture books and novels, including Nothing Rhymes with Orange and the New York Times bestseller Frankenstein Makes a Sandwich. He has worked with the likes of Jon Scieszka, Mac Barnett, Jeff Kinney, and Neil Gaiman. He lives in Tucson, Arizona.
In this chronologically intertwined look at U.S. Presidents, the overlapping lives of America’s 45 presidents are considered, along with how the officeholders have been similar and have changed since 1789 and how they will continue to change in the years ahead. Most pages indicate a certain year followed by an overview of the different seasons of life of then-living presidents before diving into details of each. In 1841, for example, “Presidents 18 and 19 were both in college . . . Presidents 20, 21, and 22, were all busy growing up.” Additional details are then provided: “President 19, Rutherford B. Hayes, was studying at Kenyon College . . . He had a reputation as a pretty good cook . . . ” The book ends by emphasizing the trajectory of presidents from mostly white, male Protestants to a Catholic president, an African American president, and a woman receiving a major party’s nomination for president. As it concludes, it asks where future presidents are today and what they’re currently doing, postulating a few possibilities based on historical data. Messner does a remarkable job of structuring and intertwining the individual lives and their narratives into a fluid narrative while Rex’s illustrations are equally flexible and interwoven. It’s not a light read, but it is a remarkable, novel introduction to American history and presidents.
“A creative look at both the history and future of American presidents.”
Bookroo Editorial
Reviewed March 2020
Where this book stands out
History
The “History” badge is awarded to recognize books that exceptionally share history.
5.0
out of 7
“Love the illustrations, like the premise, interesting information, but so DANG long. When I got to page 15 reading aloud I had to flip ahead to see how many more pages there were to make it through.”
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Top contributors: Gabrielle Pitzer · The Goodfather