This is a nice, full-color, engaging book of the Presidents of the United States of America. The things I like about it are that it’s current. It includes a nice sidebar that gives pertinent information and then has some paragraphs, about 2-3 pages, about each one and often times it will include information about their families or “big” events that happened while they were in office. I find for my family, that it’s a great addition to our American history class and it’s great for my youngest all the way to my oldest student.
I received a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

This book is excellent, full of great facts, lovely images and interesting details - 4 stars from us

‘TIME for Kids Presidents of the United States’ is a short (80 page), colourfully illustrated book aimed at interesting American children in, and informing them about, some basic civics. Thus in addition to pen portraits of all 45 occupants of the White House there are brief sections on topics such as the three branches of government, the political parties, First Ladies and the 2016 election.

Some presidents get two pages each (Washington, John Adams, Jefferson, Lincoln, Roosevelt, Truman, Reagan, George W. Bush, Obama and Trump), the others just one apiece. It is easy to see from this list that some presidents have been allocated more space because the recent past has been privileged rather than because of any objective appraisal of their presidential stature. Yet despite the luxury of allotting two pages to a man who, at the time of writing still hasn’t notched up his 100th day in the Oval Office, no mention is made of Trump’s exploitation of social media, which clearly played a major role in his ultimately becoming the ‘Commander-in-Tweet’.

The problem for any history of the presidency, however large or small, is that it’s difficult to acknowledge the veneration with which that office is held, at the same time as dealing with the repulsion excited by many of the venal and venial actions of that office’s actual occupants.

This book does not completely shy away from the dark side of the White House referring, for example, to Trump’s “controversial remarks about … people, including Latinos, Muslims, African Americans, and women.” On the other hand, whilst we are told that Clinton was impeached we are not told why, and Reagan completely escapes any mention whatsoever of Irangate, when historians have a special duty to report the events which presidents claim they can’t remember.

We are also told that “Reagan was the only president to survive an attempted assassination” when by my reckoning a total of sixteen presidents escaped assassination attempts and some of them more than one attempt.

Unfortunately this is typical of a book which both omits important information (for example saying when presidents were limited to two terms in office) and makes elementary errors (such as stating that the U.S. Capitol dome was “expanded in 1850”, when work actually began in 1855 and was not completed until 1866).

Republicans used to say that, ‘To err is Truman”. Sadly readers of this book have much cause to reflect on the original axiom.

TIME for Kids: Presidents of the United States by The Editors of TIME for Kids is a book that contains a lot of information perfect for middle school aged children.

The book begins with the history of how the presidency began. It then explains the three branches of government and why we have political parties. Then it devotes one to two pages to each one of our 45 Presidents. For each President, there is a section on their basics: birth date and place of birth, date of death, family, years of presidency, political party and vice-president. It gives a brief biography of their time as President and key dates during their presidency. The picture of each President is tastefully done.

The end of the book gives a glimpse into the White House and a couple pages on the famous First Ladies. For your history and political-loving children, this is a great book to keep on hand. It would also be a great reference for all those school projects on Presidents.

I received the advanced reader's copy from Time Inc. Books and Liberty Street Books via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book is excellent for young children because it is presented in a somewhat positive light. It is a great place to begin a love of our United State's history.

Each page has enough information designed to not be overwhelming and is presented with lots of photos. It is broken up into sections starting with the different branches of the government and why that's necessary. It goes one to show our forty-five presidents which are broken down with facts, photo, and tidbits of information. Even the first ladies have a section of their own.

This book is a great springboard to begin an in-depth reading of our American History.

This is a very informative book. It is a little bit more advanced than I expected based on the "for kids" part in the title. I'm hoping that my third grader enjoys it after learning about the election in school.

What better way to prepare children to understand the democratic process than to have them read about past presidents and their journeys to the presidency? Great for families to discuss with their children when the topics of government and citizenship come up. Keep it handy...your child might want to be president some day! The details in this book are well noted and most of the pictures are effective. Thanks to Netgalley and Time for Kids for allowing me to read this book.

This is going to be a book for kids. It gives just enough information about each President. It written so that the children can understand and hopefully want to discover more. Grateful job Time.