Customer Reviews

The Look-It-Up Book of Presidents (Look-It-Up Books)

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This book was recently updated as it seeks to include all of the presidents. The fact that earlier editions of this book have been in print for several decades is a testiment to its fine quality. It is written for the late elemntary to middle school grade level but is a nice quick reference even for adults. The book tends to whitewash certain controversies and treat presidents in a more favorable light than might a longer, adult oriented book. Still, the book gives the basics of major scandals in the presiencies of Grant, Harding, Nixon, etc. Furthermore, the book gives the reader a basic understanding of who each of our presidents was and what the basic issues were during the presidency of each. Knowing the basics of each of our presidents is important for good citizenship and this book fills the bill nicely. I hope that this book will encourage readers to want to read full legnth biographies of some of the presidents profiled or, at least to delve deeper into their presidencies by reading a more complex, adult level book of this type. I highly recommend this great introduction to our presidents.

My first exposure to Wyatt Blassingame's The Look-It-Up Book of Presidents was the early 90's when my Aunt and Uncle gave the tome to me as a gift. Back then the book ended with President Reagan. Later on I updated my copy as President Bush 41 took and left office. In early 2009 I brought a copy of the book (after not owning a copy for several years) in order to have a book on the Presidents with President-elect Barack Obama in it.

What keeps me coming back to the Look-It-Up Book of Presidents is how clearly the biographies of each President are written without any confusing jargon. I'm also impressed with how neutral he is toward each President. For example Blassingame's narratives about President's Clinton's scandals and his foreign policy are written better than most news stories were during those years. This neutrality also extends to the major events of President Bush's term such as 9/11, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the Democratic takeover of Congress in 2006. However I was disappointed that there was no mention of Hurricane Katrina, which one would think would be a given. The biography of President-elect Obama is well written and neutral as well. Other facts such as the 1994, 2004 and 2006 deaths of Presidents Nixon, Reagan, and Ford are included.

There is one weakness however. The list of Presidents in the front only includes general comments on how historians rank the Presidents up to Eisenhower. I think it would be a good idea to update the rankings to include the most recent Presidents after Eisenhower.

Above all I'm glad I own the Look-It-Up Book of Presidents again. The book got me interested in history. I fully recommend it to children who need a basic reference and to adults who need a refresher on our Presidents.

Very interesting book. Educational and fun, what more can one ask! My 10 year old son is into history, so I got this for him, not even realizing how much I would enjoy it as well! Great for the whole family to read!

I have included the updated edition of this book in several of my bibliographies for the children's books I'm currently writing because the presidential profiles are, for the most part, very readable, informative, and enlightening.

I wanted a book that would give me an overview of US Presidents. This was less information than I had hoped for. I think this would be a good addition to a young persons reference books....maybe get them interested in history. It doesn't have much data.

My 7 year old niece loves reading about presidents, so I gave this to her for her birthday. She loves it and is able to read it just fine. It's also current which is great!