A Picture Book of John F. Kennedy (Picture Book Biographies) [Paperback]

David A. Adler (Author), Robert Casilla (Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 6 and up | Grade Level: 1 and up | Series: Picture Book Biographies

Depicts the life and career of John F. Kennedy.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 2-4-- As with his previous picture-book biographies, Adler presents a brief, clearly written text that provides basic information about his subject in an appealing format. He mentions that Kennedy was not a good student during his early school days and that as a young senator, women came to the senate just to watch him. The narrative concentrates on Kennedy's achievements, is free of fictionalization, and lends itself equally well to reading aloud, recreational reading, or reports. Casilla's watercolors are full-color copies of famous photographs and, while they resemble the originals, they unfortunately give individuals stiff appearances with forced and unnatural facial expressions. Kathie Billingslea Smith's John F. Kennedy (Messener, 1987) has a somewhat longer text and is geared for a slightly older audience. This is a workmanlike and worthwhile addition to help fill the demand for biographies for newly independent readers. --Jean H. Zimmerman, Willett School, South River, NJ
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

About the Author

David Adler was born April 10, 1947. He graduated Queens College in 1968 with a BA in economics and education and licenses to teach mathematics and history. He then worked for nine years as a New York City mathematics teacher. While teaching he studied at New York University and in 1971 was awarded an MBA in marketing. He began work on a PhD in marketing when inspiration struck and he wrote his first book, A LITTLE AT A TIME (Random House, 1976). Suddenly his focus changed from marketing to writing.

In 1973 he married Renee Hamada, a psychologist, and in 1977 their first child, Michael was born. By that time David had written several books. He was granted a child-care leave from teaching and while Renee continued her work, David stayed home, took care of Michael, and wrote in earnest. It was during his first year on leave that he wrote CAM JANSEN AND THE MYSTERY OF THE STOLEN DIAMONDS. David's ANDY RUSSELL series was inspired by another family member and the many adventures the family had with his enthusiasm and his pets. He lives in New York State. www.davidaadler.com.

Robert Casilla was born in Jersey City, New Jersey to parents from Puerto Rico. Like many children, Robert always loved to draw. As the new kid in his second grade class, he recalls doing a drawing of two birds with colored chalk on construction paper. His teacher noticed the drawing and then told the class, "We have an artist in the class!" Robert is thankful to her and all the teachers that motivated and helped him realize he had talent as an artist. Although he grew up in New Jersey, he did get to attend school in Puerto Rico as a fourth grader.

His formal training in art took place at the School of Visual Arts in New York City where he earned a BFA degree.

Since 1984, Robert has worked as a freelance illustrator for magazines, book publishers, postage stamps, educational publishers and others.

He has illustrated over 25 children's books, many of which are picture book biographies of people such as Martin Luther King, Jr., Jackie Robinson, Rosa Parks and John F. Kennedy. He has also illustrated many multicultural children's books such as Jalapeno Bagels, The Little Painter of Sabana Grande, The Legend of Mexicatl and First Day in Grapes which won the Pura Belpré Honor Award.

Robert visits many schools to talk about the visual journey a story takes him through to come up with the illustrations for his books. He also teaches art to young gifted artist one day a week.

Robert lives and works from his home in New Fairfield, Connecticut with his wife and two children, 3 cats and his feisty shih tzu dog.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 6 and up
  
• Paperback: 32 pages
• Publisher: Holiday House (October 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0823409767
• ISBN-13: 978-0823409761
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 9.3 x 0.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #742,365 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #55 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > People, A-Z > ( K ) > Kennedy, Robert
  • #62 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Children's Books > People & Places > Biographies > U. S. Presidents & First Ladies
  • #88 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Children's Books > Authors & Illustrators, A-Z > ( A ) > Adler, David A.

More About the Author

I write both fiction and non-fiction. I begin my fiction with the main character. The story comes later. Of course, since I'll be spending a lot of time with each main character, why not have him or her be someone I like? Andy Russell is based, loosely, on a beloved member of my family. He's fun to write about and the boy who inspired the character is even more fun to know. Cam Jansen is based even more loosely on a classmate of mine in the first grade whom we all envied because we thought he had a photographic memory. Now, especially when my children remind me of some promise they said I made, I really envy Cam's amazing memory. I have really enjoyed writing about Cam Jansen and her many adventures. For my books of non-fiction I write about subjects I find fascinating. My first biography was Our Golda: The Life of Golda Meir. To research that book, I bought a 1905 set of encyclopedia. Those books told me what each of the places Golda Meir lived in were like when she lived there. I've written many other biographies, including books about Martin Luther King, Jr; George Washington; Abraham Lincoln; Helen Keller; Harriet Tubman; Anne Frank; and many others in my Picture Book Biography series. I've been a Yankee and a Lou Gehrig fan for decades so I wrote Lou Gehrig: The Luckiest Man. It's more the story of his great courage than his baseball playing. Children face all sorts of challenges and it's my hope that some will be inspired by the courage of Lou Gehrig. I am working now on another book about a courageous man, Janusz Korczak. My book One Yellow Daffodil is fiction, too, but it's based on scores of interviews I did with Holocaust survivors for my books We Remember the Holocaust, Child of the Warsaw Ghetto, The Number on My Grandfather's Arm, and Hiding from the Nazis. The stories I heard were compelling. One Yellow Daffodil is both a look to the past and to the future, and expresses my belief in the great spirit and strength of our children. I love math and was a math teacher for many years, so it was fun for me to write several math books including Fraction Fun, Calculator Riddles, and Shape Up! Fun with Triangles and Other Polygons. In my office I have this sign, "Don't Think. Just Write!" and that's how I work. I try not to worry about each word, even each sentence or paragraph. For me stories evolve. Writing is a process. I rewrite each sentence, each manuscript, many times. And I work with my editors. I look forward to their suggestions, their help in the almost endless rewrite process. Well, it's time to get back to dreaming, and to writing, my dream of a job. David A. Adler is the author of more than 175 children's books, including the Young Cam Jansen series. He lives in Woodmere, New York.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Real John F. Kennedy, February 24, 2001

By 

Judy Avery (Fort Scott, KS) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Picture Book of John F. Kennedy (Picture Book Biographies) (Paperback)

I really enjoyed reading this picture book. This book portrays JFK as a normal person who had real problems in his life. Dispite being one America's Great Presidents, people can see the other side of him as well. The everyday boy growing up in a big family. I learned what he did as a kid, and how sickly he was. This book even gave information about his brothers as well. The illustrations are incredible. The pictures are almost a perfect likeness of JFK and his family.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Mr. Adler needs to do a better job checking his facts, December 2, 2002

By 

"grm25268" (Port Washington, NY USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Picture Book of John F. Kennedy (Picture Book Biographies) (Hardcover)

While I think it is important for young people to have books to read about the important figures in our history, I think it is imperative that an author makes sure his facts are correct. In his book, Mr. Adler has JFK being elected to the Senate in 1952 and reelected in 1956. Yes, JFK was elected to the Senate for the first time in 1952, beating Henry Cabot Lodge, but he was not reelected in 1956. Senate terms are six years unless there are special circumstances, which there were not in this case, which means JFK would not have to run again until 1958. He did so and was elected by the largest margin in Massachusetts state history at that time. In 1956 JFK made an attempt to be the Democrat's candidate for Vice President on the ticket with Adlai Stevenson, but he was defeated in that attempt by fellow Senator Estes Kefauver of Tennessee. How can we expect our children to have their facts straight when we do not provide them with the correct information to begin with. How this mistake got past the author, editor and publisher, I do not know, but that fact that it did is [unheard of]