Genre 4 - WHAT TO DO ABOUT ALICE? by Barbara Kerley

1. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Kerley, Barbara. 2008. WHAT TO DO ABOUT ALICE?. New York: Scholastic. ISBN 0439922313

2. PLOT SUMMARY
Kerley documents the life of Alice Roosevelt, an ambitious, driven, and adventurous young girl with a mind of her own and a tendency to “drive her father crazy.” Written in brief, informative sentences, the author covers Alice’s personality, actions, ambitions, and her father’s role in her upbringing. The book is an entertaining account of a fun, life-loving individual as she grows from a small girl to an accomplished woman who makes her father proud. A true joy to read, regardless of age!

3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS
This picture book biography of young Alice Roosevelt invites readers into the pages with vivid illustrations and a warm look inside the life of President Roosevelt and his oldest daughter. Historical information is presented in a way that relates to readers and the relationships they may have with their own fathers and/or daughters. The author emphasizes key events in Alice’s life and her relationship with Teddy, which are later validated in a three-section author’s note with bibliographical information.

The book is organized as a story, flowing from page to page in the chronological order of Alice’s life. Though it does not lend itself to a reference style use, the biography does follow the traditional story-line format of the genre. The pages are not overflowing with words and information, making this an ideal book for read alouds and younger ages. Illustrator Edwin Fotheringham’s artwork fills the pages with color and interpretation of the stories and antics provided by Kerley’s text. Through an effective and inviting blend of art and text, readers ride the rollercoaster of life with young Miss Alice and her hunger for experiencing each day to the fullest, while “eating up the world.”

4. REVIEW EXCERPTS
Review in KIRKUS REVIEW: “Theodore Roosevelt’s irrepressible oldest child receives an appropriately vivacious appreciation in this superb picture book...”
Review in SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL: “Kerley’s text gallops along with a vitality to match her subject’s antics, as the girl greets White House visitors accompanied by her pet snake, refuses to let leg braces cramp her style, dives fully clothed into a ship s swimming pool, and also earns her place in history as one of her father s trusted advisers.”

5. CONNECTIONS
*Follow up WHAT TO DO ABOUT ALICE? with Kerley’s other books about Mark Twain and Walt Whitman to emphasize the literary genre of biography to a younger audience.
*After reading WHAT TO DO ABOUT ALICE?, have students try their hand at creating biographies of their own (this could be done individually or in groups and could be modified based on grade level).
*Use book as a supplemental instructional material while studying Theodore Roosevelt. Even on the middle and high school level this would add an additional view point in which students may picture and understand the former president.