My Name Is Not Alexander

This is a refreshing book about the power of imagination. Alexander spends his day being various historical figures. I enjoyed the people he decided to be. The book will introduce young people to a variety of interesting me. I had never even heard about Chief Joseph until I read this book. The book provides information on each person as well as resources in case kids want to learn more. I loved that not only did Alexander pretend to be these people but he felt that he could possess the qualities they have. I especially liked when he was Fred Astaire and he danced with his grandmother. Alexander is able to be brave like Jackie Robinson as well a smooth like Fred Astaire. The message is that children are not limited to acting in just one show more way. I also liked the father in this story, he as very encouraging of Alexander's play. He's dialogue was also kind of corny that reminded me of my own dad. I think this is an overall great book and can't wait to check out the first book My Name is not Isabella. show less

My Name is Not Alexander is a great book for early elementary students. The young boy in the book keeps changing his name throughout the story to five different heroes of the past: Teddy Roosevelt, Thomas Edison, Chief Joseph, Fred Astaire, and Jack Robinson. The book also includes a two-page spread at the end that details facts about each of these men and their achievements. My second-grade class enjoyed this book and were very interested in finding out more about these great men. This led to many of my students checking out books from our library to read more about each of these heroes of our past.

This is an enjoyable book! I have a son named Alexander, who happens to love reading about history, and dressing up, so I immediately thought of him when I read the description of this book on the Early Reviewers list. It was also quite nice to receive the book in hardback format! This book would be great way to introduce younger kids to different historical figures, and get them thinking about who they look up to. Like other reviewers, I'm glad they included brief bios on the characters at the end of the book - very informative. I would recommend this book!

As a mother of three young ones that double as a thundering herd the end of the day story time is a moment I look forward to and use to balance out the hysteria that is the rest of the evening. Because our story time is one of the view moments where I have their undivided attention while at the same time have them in my lap, hanging on my back and snuggled beside me the ideal book is key. A book that doesn't bore me, underestimate them, or allow options of creative voices is hard to come by. THIS is one of those books. It is a delightful story that has the repeative story line so important and stimulating for the pre-school age but also involves familiar personalities and heroes from our history to keep the older ones interested all show more while encouraging the power of imagination. This book had my 9 year old, 7 year old and 4 year old's attention for the whole book which is a feat FEW have been able to come close. The best tools for mothers are the ones that teach our children without them knowing it and this delightful story does just that. I highly recommend this to any mom of younger ones. show less

Wow! I loved this book as much as my children! My youngest son was fascinated by the pictures and the story of a little boy named Alexander. From waking in the morning till going to bed this little boy is constantly pretending to be someone else. After the second reading of this my little boy was reading it back. I really appreciated how the author included an biography page in the back describing each person that young Alexander was pretending to be. My son was asking who is Cheif Joseph, and Theodore....when we got to the end he loved the real life account of each person including birth and date of death. The book is full of imagination - and encourages children to take time to imagine what they will be when they grow up.
Thank you show more Sourcebook for this review copy. show less

My 6 year-old daughter and 4 year-old son both enjoyed this book. They found it amusing that the boy kept changing his name as it's the kind of thing they do all the time (obviously something the author was aware of!) and so they felt some level of connection there. However, they have not asked for a second reading. I am sorry to say that I am quite grateful for this because, unlike every other reviewer here, I didn't really enjoy this book much. If the kids don't request a further reading within the next couple of weeks (four weeks have passed already and they haven't so far so I'm afraid it doesn't bode well!), we'll donate it to one of the classroom libraries so that other kids can enjoy it.

Alexander is a young boy with a bigger-than-life imagination. He wakes up and, right away, he tells his father he is Theodore Roosevelt and his father emphasizes what President Theodore Roosevelt did with certain words like: "Park", "Save", and "Energy". This continues through the book where Alexander becomes Thomas Edison, Jackie Robinson, and finishes by dressing up like his dad and saying that he is "Daddy" before he finally 'admits' that he is Alexander and he goes to sleep and dreams about who he will be tomorrow. This story brings up several important historical figures, but concludes with Alexander dreaming about who he will be in the future and he addresses that he can be anything he puts his mind towards.