James Madison (Founding Fathers)

James Madison (Founding Fathers)

From School Library Journal Grade 3-5-These books try too hard to combine history with biography and lose their subjects in the process. They each start with an exciting moment in the subject's life and then return to the period of his birth. All three have one- to two-page chapters with very large headings, very wide margins, and much illustrative matter. The result is a minimum of text. The coverage of each man's life is so sketchy that at one point Madison is beginning his term as Jefferson's secretary of state and the next he is being inaugurated as president. Monroe barely appears in the first half of his book. After a short paragraph about his attendance at college in Virginia, the rest of the "Student to Soldier" section is about British and American soldiers preparing for war in Boston. Adams's second wife appears only in the time line at the end of the book. The illustrations are most often unattributed historical paintings, drawings, and engravings. Some are photographs of reenactments or present-day locations. They are generally well reproduced and enhance the appearance of the books. Jean Fritz's Why Don't You Get a Horse, Sam Adams? (PaperStar, 1996) gives a much better introduction to Adams while her The Great Little Madison (Putnam, 1989), though for better readers, gives a much more intimate picture of Madison's life. All three men are better served by the "Encyclopedia of Presidents" series (Children's).Louise L. Sherman, formerly at Anna C. Scott School, Leonia, NJ Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. A biography of the fourth president of the United States focusing on his role in establishing a new government for which he is remembered as the Father of the Constitution.