David Stabler

As a fan of trivia and American history, I loved David Stabler and Doogie Horner's "Kid Presidents: True Tales of Childhood from America's Presidents." Not only are the anecdotes engaging and fun, but they also provide another, lesser-known side to the men who once occupied the Oval Office. This makes these individuals seem more real and human than the encyclopedia entries and official biographies on them. For instance, Stabler describes Richard Nixon's disastrous foray in a school show more production of "The Aeneid," where a pair of too-small boots ruined his concentration and his performance. While the story and the accompanying pictures (expertly rendered by Horner) are humorous, they also show a relatable side to Nixon since everyone has his or her own embarrassing experience. Furthermore, Nixon's perseverance in his pursuit of acting not only provides closure for the story and a moral of sorts, it also provides a nice connection to Nixon's adult trials and his unwillingness to give up.

Adding to the readability is the book’s format, which alternates between longer sections (around 8 pages in length) dedicated to a single president and his childhood exploits and themed sections on topics such as early work experiences, pranks, and teacher comments. This allows for more presidents to be included (some presidents appear more than once), and it helps break up the sections. Stabler, who has already written books like “The Secret Lives of Great Authors” under his adult alter ego Robert Schnakenberg, does a nice job using engaging and kid-friendly language throughout the book, and his humor appeals to both adults and children. While younger readers can take some of his assertions at face value, adults will likely get a chuckle because of their additional knowledge of the situations and the presidents. A prime example of this is when Stabler describes Nixon’s failed performance as possibly “the worst, most humiliating night of his life” (I’d argue that having to tender your resignation live on television might be more humiliating). Interspersed with the lively and accessible text are colorful and humorous illustrations that help bring the words to life.

Overall, “Kid Presidents” is an informative and enjoyable book for all ages. It would make the perfect addition to a classroom or school library and would be a fun read aloud book that both children and adults could appreciate. show less

ARC provided by LibraryThing

We should all go ahead and get one thing out of the way, history can be boring as sin for young kids to study. Oh I know, its exciting and there is some great stuff in it that kids would enjoy. But the people that write the history books? And the *cough* politicians and people *cough* that try to rewrite history? Yeah...they forget how much fun history really is and get stuck on trying to make people memorize facts and figures, instead of remembering that the past show more can be not only a great teacher, but fun as well. And that’s where books like “Kid Presidents” come in.

In this book David Stabler brings to life stories from sixteen different presidents, including our current one Barack Obama, from when they were kids. And while others have done this type of thing before, they all tend to focus on the same boring story, like George Washington and the cherry tree or Abraham Lincoln and his quest to end vampires...wait neither of those is real? Well dang. Oh well, Stabler has done his research and brings to life stories that ARE real, strange, and just...normal that readers of all ages will enjoy. I mean I learned a lot about the presidents that I hadn’t known before. For example, did you know that George Washington was almost apprenticed to the British Navy before his mom stepped in and put a stop to it? Or that he helped create some of the early maps of Virginia instead? Its true! Even more importantly though, Stabler makes it a point to show how the presidents were just like everyone else growing up. They struggled with homework, got into fights with their siblings, drove their teachers and parents nuts, and had to do stuff they hated, but they still managed to grow up and hold the most important office in the US. Imagine the joy and aspirations so many young children will get reading about past presidents. And wonder if one day they will join their ranks. The only complaint that I have is that Stabler only writes about sixteen of the presidents. While he presents interesting tidbits and facts about all of them throughout the book, I would have loved to see more stories of our past leaders.

One of the things that helps bring this book to life, are the great illustrations that Doogie Horner provides throughout. With a style and movement that reminds me of Charles Schulz, Horner captures the essence of the people that we meet making them feel like the kids next door. For example, within the story Ulysses Grant, one of the illustrations captures Grant at the age of eight buying a horse from a wily farmer. The illustration captures the precocious, but studious nature of the young grant and portrays the farmer as a somewhat rascally, but one that is basically good at heart. Trust me, that’s a lot to try to convey in one image but Horner does a good job of it. The one complaint that I have is about the book cover itself. The only illustration that looks like it was done by Horner is the one of Teddy Roosevelt. The other ones present a caricature of the adult president face, situated on a child’s body. Which is just really, really creep. I’m not sure what led to this style change, but I would have far preferred to see the illustrations as they were in the book.

Although the book has some minor flaws, by and large I recommend it without hesitation. Not just to young readers, but all ages as even adults will learn something new about our past presidents. I hope that Stable and Horner are able to do another book featuring new stories about other presidents and that this is the first in a series. I give the book 4 out of 5 stars. show less

"Kid Athletes: True Tales of Childhood from Sports Legends" by David Stabler and Doogie Horner, the same team that wrote "Kid Presidents," is an engaging and fun look at well-known athletes before they became household names. Like "Kid Presidents," the book focuses on the childhoods of athletes and is filled with amusing trivia and anecdotes that make these sports stars relatable and real, particularly for the book's target audience of young readers.

Stabler and Horner incorporate a wide show more range of athletes from various sports. These include current stars like Peyton Manning and Gabby Douglas as well as legendary athletes like Babe Ruth, Billie Jean King, and Jackie Robinson. I particularly appreciated that sports that don't necessarily get a lot of attention in the U.S. media, like sumo wrestling, were represented. Each athlete gets his or her own entry that offers some insight into his or her life as a child, with many focusing on overcoming obstacles like bullying (Douglas and Danica Patrick), bias (Robinson and King), and physical challenges (Jesse Kuhaulua, Lionel Messi, and Yao Ming). Related to this, the book also puts an emphasis on the importance of hard work, practice, and persistence. These concentrations make a great deal of sense given the topic and the intended readership. Fortunately, Stabler’s text is lively and appealing enough to keep the stories from getting overly didactic, and Horner keeps the tone light with his colorful and often humorous illustrations. For instance, in the picture depicting Babe Ruth’s grim experience at a boarding school for delinquent boys, Stabler combats the bleakness by including a cheerful-looking mouse in the picture with a sad-looking Ruth.

While I don’t know the backgrounds of the included sports stars well enough to comment on the accuracy of the information, it is clear that Stabler and Horner did their homework when preparing this book. In addition to the bibliography, which they used when writing the book and offer as further reading, small touches, such as a picture showing Liang Chow calling Gabby Douglas a flying squirrel (a nickname that is now associated with Douglas), show an affection and knowledge of the subjects as well as a willingness to go beneath the surface.

All in all, “Kid Athletes” is a worthy follow-up to “Kid Presidents and a great book for young readers. It would be a wonderful addition to a home, school, or classroom library, and given its subject matter, I can see it being helpful in engaging reluctant readers or in acting as an entry point for discussing important character traits such as grit. show less

This is a great collection of sports stories that explain the hardships of growing to be a star. Most of the stories are well-written and engaging, though some of the pictures included are a little silly or exaggerated. It emphasizes the hard work and sacrifice that athletes put in, but in such short summarizes it's hard to get a good sense of that. Good for an audience of 9-11 years, both boys and girls.