Customer Reviews

Teedie: The Story of Young Teddy Roosevelt

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Teedie was a puny kid and about the only thing he had going for him . . . well, I'll have to think a while to figure out even one thing. He was a sickly asthmatic boy who couldn't even attend school and had to have tutors come to his home to give him lessons. The Roosevelts were a very wealthy family and could afford to do things like take their children on foreign vacations and best of all, take them to spend their summers in the country. Teedie, his brother and two sisters enjoyed their time in the country, but even being in the fresh air couldn't help him nor would the "Roosevelts' wealth." Ah, that thing Teedie had going for him was determination and a "strong mind." That would take him far in life.

His father and mother would worry about him and they even tried experimenting with fanciful cures such as having Teedie "gulp coffee or puff on a cigar." He exhibited insatiable curiosity and his father indulged him and let him grow in his own way. His frailty was a concern and his father encouraged physical fitness, something he readily embraced despite his physical limitations. Teedie's body, in the years to come, began to become strong. His tenacity was unmatched. Teddy "claimed he was just average." Would Teddy Roosevelt ever attain the expectations he had for himself in his mind?

This story and the artwork blended together superbly to make the young Teddy Roosevelt come to life. I suspect it was not an easy accomplishment because most people think of him as a Rough Rider and would never think or nor believe he was a sickly child. In the back of the book there is an illustration of Teddy with a brief timeline biography, an author's note with additional biographical information and a bibliography. You're going to simply fall in love with Teedie, the "undersize boy" who became a "larger-than-life man!"

We all know about TR, right? Rough Riders, teddy bear, once was shot in the middle of a speech and kept on talking for a whole HOUR AND A HALF, using his bleeding arm to gesture with? Made of pure, 110% unadulturated awesome? Also a conservationist and, you know, president? (One of the big ones, not like Polk or Fillmore or somebody.)

Well, you may not believe it, but back before he was awesome Teddy Roosevelt was a puny, weak, asthmatic little boy. (Apparently he never recovered from the asthma, he just lived around it. Fair enough.) No, it's true! So here is this whole book about TR as a kid and young adult and how he triumphed over his weaknesses through sheer force of will. He rides horses (and doesn't even notice his arm is broken once until several jumps had gone by, as a well-timed quote from the man himself indicates), he learns to box, he becomes a cowboy to recover from the death of his wife and his mother on the same day... well, the list goes on and on.

One note - "inspirational" tales about disability abound. Not everybody who is asthmatic or physically weak or disabled is going to be able to overcome these problems by "trying hard", and neither will all of them especially want to. This is a great book, and pretty accurate, but if you're giving it to inspire a disabled/weak/asthmatic friend, reconsider your motives. Then, when you're back to viewing this as a great true story, give it with an open heart. It's a great book. (It's a pity I even have to say this, but if you've ever been disabled you'll know how annoying it is to be told, in alternating breaths, both that you could get out of your wheelchair and walk if you wanted to/tried harder/prayed better and then that you're brave and inspirational for venturing out of the house at all.)

Also, please note that this is a lengthy book. Your younger children might not sit still long enough to get through it all. Save it for reading alone or for reading to an older crowd.