Book Descriptions
for If the Walls Could Talk by Jane O'Connor and Gary Hovland
From Cooperative Children's Book Center (CCBC)
Did you know that Warren Harding lost a set of White House china in a poker game? Or that Teddy Roosevelt’s children slid down the White House stairs on cookie trays? How about the time that William McKinley’s wife banned the color yellow from the White House? Take your pick of obscure White House facts, as there are plenty to choose from in this history of the presidential residence. From the time George Washington chose the building’s design and location (although he never lived there), through Jenna and Barbara Bush (the first White House twins), tidbits of information are presented chronologically through text and pictures. The caricature-style ink and watercolor illustrations feature the residents posed in memorable snapshots, like the Eisenhowers dining on trays while watching his-and-her television sets, and Woodrow Wilson directing the sheep grazing on the White House lawn to a missed spot. One final factoid: when Rutherford B. Hayes installed the first White House telephone, the phone number was, simply, one. (Ages 7–11)
CCBC Choices 2005 . © Cooperative Children's Book Center, Univ. of Wisconsin - Madison, 2005. Used with permission.
From the Publisher
In case you've ever wondered, the walls at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue have eyes and ears -- and, what's more, they don't miss a thing. Now, listen up because the walls have a thing or two to tell you!
During President John Tyler's presidency, the White House was such a mess that it was called the "Public Shabby House."
President William Howard Taft was so large that he had to have a jumbo-size bathtub installed -- one big enough for four people.
President Andrew Jackson's "open door" policy at the White House resulted in 20,000 people showing up for his inauguration party. (The new president escaped to the quiet of a nearby hotel!)
President Abraham Lincoln didn't mind at all that his younger sons, Tad and Willie, kept pet goats in their White House bedrooms.
Children all across the country sent in their own money to build an indoor swimming pool for wheelchair-bound President Franklin D. Roosevelt so that he could exercise.
President Harry S. Truman knew it was time to renovate the White House after a leg on his daughter's piano broke right through the floor.
Hear these funny, surprising stories and more about the most famous home in America and the extraordinary families who have lived in it.
During President John Tyler's presidency, the White House was such a mess that it was called the "Public Shabby House."
President William Howard Taft was so large that he had to have a jumbo-size bathtub installed -- one big enough for four people.
President Andrew Jackson's "open door" policy at the White House resulted in 20,000 people showing up for his inauguration party. (The new president escaped to the quiet of a nearby hotel!)
President Abraham Lincoln didn't mind at all that his younger sons, Tad and Willie, kept pet goats in their White House bedrooms.
Children all across the country sent in their own money to build an indoor swimming pool for wheelchair-bound President Franklin D. Roosevelt so that he could exercise.
President Harry S. Truman knew it was time to renovate the White House after a leg on his daughter's piano broke right through the floor.
Hear these funny, surprising stories and more about the most famous home in America and the extraordinary families who have lived in it.
Publisher description retrieved from Google Books.
