What To Do About Alice? by Barbara Kerley

     This book is another biography that goes into family life at the White House. It is based on Theodore Roosevelt's daughter Alice, who was a rebellious and witty young lady. The story goes through Alice's childhood, showing her to be extremely smart and witty, and going about life in a very delightful and fun loving way. Children will be able to connect to this text by relating to the childlike mischief that is portrayed throughout. The story gives a factual look into the family dynamic and what it was like for Alice to be the daughter of a president.

    The author brings the characters to life, telling the true story of how Alice came to be one of her fathers trusted advisors. The illustrations are a perfect support for the text, giving the information visual representation, but also adding a very overall humorous tone to the story. This style of writing it perfect for young readers. It has very engaging and simple language, and as previously stated, it has very silly and humorous aspects to it while also sharing informative information about true events and people. The overall concept is not complex in general, and the way the author shares the story is very fit for young students. The use of vivid details and language is very well done, students will be able to read or listen and be able to comprehend the events. The humor in the text makes it very enjoyable to read. Students can read the text and realize that the families in the White House, especially the kids, still can have fun and be crazy from time to time! The way Alice is depicted in the story is very well developed and beats the typical stereotype of the "perfect child of the president". Her personality as a young girl shines through in the text, and readers can really get a sense of what life was like for her and her family during this time. 


   Motivational Activities:

An activity that I would do with this story is have my students write a short story about what they would do if they lived in the White House for day. I think this would be super fun for students to explore with writing, and think about all of the crazy and fun things they read about Alice I the book, and use their imagination and creativity to create their own story. Since Alice had a big and bright personality, she may be a good person to write creative poetry on! Students can gather inspiration and ideas from the book to create their own works of poetry to share stories and insight on young Alice in the White House. Of course when teaching about presidents and history of America, this book could be used in a presidents project for if a student decided to do a report or presentation on Theodore Roosevelt, giving family background and fun facts about his relationship with Alice.

Possible questions to ask:

  1. What could be learned from Alice?
  2. Do you think that Alice's actions had to do with her father at all? Why?
  3. Did you feel connected to Alice in anyway when reading?
  4. If you lived in the White House, what kinds of things would you like to do?

I thought this story was super cute and a very fun twist on a biography for children. It gave factual information on the life of Alice Roosevelt and what her childhood was like growing up in the White House, while also being super engaging and fun to read. A lot of the time, I feel students think of biographies to be very straight forward, strict in format, and not supposed to utilize humor or silliness. This is an example of how biographies can be made fun, while also informing about the true events and details of a persons life. I love how students can be able to connect with her playfulness and relate to her being a young child. I think it would be really fun to read with students, and it would keep them engaged throughout the whole story!


References:

Galda, L., Liang, L. A., & Cullinan, B. E. (2016). Literature and the Child. Cengage Learning.


Kerley, B., & Fotheringham, E. (2008). What to Do about Alice? Amsterdam University Press.



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