Illustrated by David McPhailRating: Additional
Charlesbridge, 2008, $16.95
ISBN: 978-1-58089-234-6
Age/Grade Level: grades K-3
Age/Grade Level: grades K-3
Margaret Chase Smith : A Woman for President is a tomato-red-colored children's biography with a cover that grabs attention. Both a hit and a miss, this biography chronicles Margaret Chase Smith's life from her birth in 1897, at which time "women in most of the United States could not vote- not for a dogcatcher, not for governor, and most certainly not for president." Accompanying timelines prove interesting in charting U.S. developments. Information in the afterword would be better integrated into the story, which often leaves pages with white blocks. Summations on each page, such as "What a granddaughter she was -- one who learned the value of money," are redundant. Iconic illustrator David McPhail's, art is at times awkward, and at others, warm. Margaret Chase Smith, a biography with a few flaws, still appeals.
Reviewer: Rebecca Porter, Orange County Public Library/Laguna Beach Branch
