Rating: Recommended
Houghton Mifflin, 2007, $16.00
ISBN: 978-0618411993
Age/Grade Level: Grades K-2
ISBN: 978-0618411993
Age/Grade Level: Grades K-2
A lively biography of Dolley Madison who grew up a simple farm girl, married James Madison, was a hostess for the widowed Thomas Jefferson and later actual First lady when her husband became President. Already known for her charm, fanciful costumes and delightful banquets, she showed her mettle and earned the nation's gratitude when she saved a valuable portrait of George Washington and important government documents from destruction by British forces.
Don Brown's dashing and whimsical watercolors do more than illustrate his text, they set the mood, extend the story and humorously, at the end of the book, place Dolley
in context, surrounded by cameos of the first eleven presidents she knew.
Notes by the author provide additional biographical material, also on Gilbert Stuart who painted this famous portrait of George Washington.
Instructive and entertaining, this picture book-biography should win over even the most reluctant readers.
Reviewer: B. Carswell, Orange County Public Library/West Garden Grove Branch
