Children's Book: Theodore Roosevelt and the Rise of Empire America

Though written for ages 8 and up, there is much to be gained for the adult who reads this book.  My husband is an avid Theodore Roosevelt fan - scratch that, TR is a true hero in our home.  The two men even share a birthday!  Hubby is a bibliophile and probably bought this book (I'd never seen it before today on our bookshelf).  But enough about my man, let me tell you about the book.

If you are a collector of books, this could be one for your shelf.  It is "painstakingly written and illustrated by Cheryl Harness" who has written and/or illustrated 35 other books for children, including 6 other picture-book biographies for National Geographic.  The images of this book were drawn with a steel pen dipped in a bottle of India ink, like many artists did in the days of TR.

I like that the words are simple enough for a third grader (and explains in parenthesis potential unfamiliar words like abolitionists) yet paced quick enough that in short snippets, the book could be read aloud to a younger audience.  Along the bottom of most pages runs a timeline.  Running the gamut of his life, the book begins with TR's birth.  In the beginning pages we learn about the Lincoln/Douglas debates as well as the Pony Express.

This book can be found in the Central Arkansas Library System.  For a list of books by Cheryl Harness (quickly becoming one of my favorite children's authors), you can start here.

-Julie