William Henry Harrison: Our Ninth President (Spirit of America: Our Presidents) [Large Print] [Library Binding]

Ann Gaines (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 9 and up | Grade Level: 4 and up | Series: Spirit of America: Our Presidents

A thorough, illustrated biography discussing the president's childhood, his career, his family, and his term as President of the United States. Includes a time line and glossary.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 4-6-Presidential biography becomes more accessible with these appealing volumes. An uncluttered layout, large-type font, and high-quality illustrations invite children to delve into each page. Oil portraits and photographs capture each man's likeness at various stages of his life, while period paintings, posters, maps, and political cartoons provide the social and political backdrop of the United States as he knew it. The authors discuss the people and events that shaped each individual before and during his presidency, and they establish his impact on the office as well as on the nation. Frequent sidebars of "Interesting Facts" are just as engaging and informative as the main text. All three books contain a page of presidential facts and a chronological listing of all of our nation's leaders with thumbnail portraits, birthplace, term of office, life span, party affiliation, and First Lady. These are worthy alternatives to titles in the "United States Presidents" series (ABDO/Checkerboard), which are notable for their basic texts but are narrower in scope.
William McLoughlin, Brookside School, Worthington, OH
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 9 and up
  
• Library Binding: 48 pages
• Publisher: Child's World (August 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1567668488
• ISBN-13: 978-1567668483
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 7.9 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.9 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,232,020 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The president with the shortest term and longest resume, July 20, 2002

By 

Lawrance M. Bernabo (The Zenith City, Duluth, Minnesota) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: William Henry Harrison: Our Ninth President (Spirit of America: Our Presidents) (Library Binding)

I usually start reading these volumes in the "Our Presidents" series thinking I pretty much know all the important things about the particular president in question. William Henry Harrison: son of a signer of the Declaration of Independence, made his reputation as a general at the battle of Tippecanoe, the first Whig elected President, died a month into his term from pneumonia contracted on a rainy inauguration day, and his grandson Benjamin Harrison was also elected President. So basically I thought of William Henry Harrison as one of those generals who kept getting elected President in the 19th century with decidedly mixed results. Of course, Ann Graham Gaines quickly proves me wrong in this informative juvenile biography.

The minor point would be that Harrison was not made a general until sometime after the battle of Tippecanoe that gave him his famous nickname and one of the great political slogans in American History. However, the major point would be Harrison had what is arguably the most impressive political resume of anyone ever to win the White House (previously I would have said that honor went to George Herbert Walker Bush). Harrison started out as a soldier but resigned from the army to become secretary of the Northwest Territory before going on to be elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, appointed governor of the Indiana Territory by John Adams, reelected to the U.S. House, then elected to the Ohio State Senate and then the U.S. Senate from Ohio, and appointed minister to Columbia by John Quincy Adams. His political career apparently ended by Andrew Jackson's election, Harrison actively campaigns for the presidency as early as 1835 before joining the Whig Party and being elected in 1840. In the middle of this political career he had time to be a general during the War of 1812, so while he was a soldier, he was also a formidable politicians.

Ironically, William Henry Harrison served the shortest term of any President. Gaines can only sketch out what Harrison might have done while in office, but such speculation surely pales in comparison to his overall political career. It is interesting that the Harrison family is not mentioned in the same breath with other American political families of note, to wit, the Adams, Roosevelt, Kennedy and Bush families. The book is illustrated with historic paintings, prints, and such from this time period, although I was disappointed that the daguerreotype of Harrison, the first taken of a sitting President (we have one of John Quincy Adams as well), was not included. The margins of the volume are filled with Interesting Facts, such as Harrison being the last President born before the American Revolution as well as being the oldest President ever to be inaugurated up to that time at 68 years of age. Detailed sidebars provide more information about Tecumseh, Presidential Campaigns, and Death in the Highest Office.

There has been some mention of Benjamin Harrison in the press, since he was the last President to lose the popular vote but win in the Electoral College, so it is rather ironic that there are such strong parallels between the other Harrison and the other Bush. Still, the greater irony is that one of the most forgotten Presidents did so much that has been forgotten. William Henry Harrison might be a historical footnote, but his political and military resume makes it a rather lengthy footnote.

3.0 out of 5 stars THIS IS FOR KIDS!!, July 30, 2011

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Happy Shopping "kcusnem" (Indiana) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: William Henry Harrison: Our Ninth President (Presidents of the U.S.A. (Child's World)) (Library Binding)

Looked like a great book. Unfortunately we didn't realize it was a kids book so we sent it back for the Old Tippecanoe book.

5.0 out of 5 stars good book, July 6, 2010

By 

M. Ackley (Nashville, Tn USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: William Henry Harrison: Our Ninth President (Presidents of the U.S.A. (Child's World)) (Library Binding)

loved this book had trouble finding many books about this President and this one was very thorough