Madam President

Madam President
Thimmesh, Catherine
Jones, Douglas
Collective Biographies
Houghton Mifflin Company(2008)
4-5
Madam President is a clever and informative book about a young girl's desire to become the President of the United States and the history of women in politics. The book begins with a young girl proclaiming that she will be the President of the United States when she grows up. She is laughed at and told that she cannot be the President because she is a girl. Then the reader learns about the contributions women have made throughout the world in politics. From Abigail Adams to Benazir Bhutto, we learn about first ladies, senators, congresswomen, Secretaries of state, Supreme Court Justices Vice Presidential candidates, and world leaders all of whom were women. Throughout the book there are tid bits about how few women in America are leaders and facts like America is ranked 52nd in the world when it comes to women in politics. The girl is able to convince her friends that it doesn't matter if she is a girl because she can be the President and that there are no laws to stop her from fulfilling her dreams. At the end of the book there is a time line of women in politics.

The minny Biographies about women in politics are very informative and taught me allot about these women I was previously unaware of many of these women's contributions and accomplishments. The Biographies are a lesson with in them selves because so many of the women in this book are rarely mentioned in history books and they are definitely not portrayed with such importance. this book teaches students that women are very capable of being leaders and that many women have been and are current leaders. This book mixes facts from history with the ambitions of a young girl which I feel would help young readers identify with the book. The only criticism I have for the book is that the book would be more informative if the biographies were longer and more detailed.

The single and double page illustrations were drawn with pencil and the color was applied using photo shop. The digital coloring of the photos gave them a very unique look which captured my attention right away. Jones did an excellent job illustrating the girls disappointment and frustration with our society's stereotypes for women. He also captured her determination. There is also a collage of the white house that is made up entirely of tiny photos of women and young girls which was like nothing I had ever seen.