Time for Kids: John F. Kennedy: The Making of a Leader

I found this book in a stack of other similar biographies at my parents' house. I picked it because I needed to choose another nonfiction book to read and review, but I was pleasantly surprised at the aspects of this book that make it a great nonfiction read for kids.
I tells stories, it has photographs, it is divided up chronologically and by chapters, it has concise captions for each photo, it has perfectly sized text with perfectly chosen font size and color - the whole package just works! This book is age-appropriate (grades 3-6 I would imagine) and it does a fine job of telling the important happenings of a great president in a way that kids can understand and even appreciate. In many other juvenile biographies I have found that show more they either excel at presenting text or presenting visual references, but this book does both. I would highly recommend this book and any others in the Time For Kids series for any classroom or school library. What a great reference book for any child needing to construct a biography report or even just discover a bit of history. show less

6. Learning about the life of John F. Kennedy as a TIME for Kids biographies book was a good, fun read. The biography is about the leadership, values and determination. John F. Kennedy became president because of his strive for success. This book highlights his importance as a citizen in the United States, and his accomplishments. I love this book because its information is accurate and engaging. The layout of the book includes, historical and contemporary pictures, interesting fast facts, side bars of highlighted personal info, and concise summaries of himself throughout the years. For example, the book includes key dates of John F. Kennedy to quickly summarize the whole book. Overall, the book takes a close look at John F. Kennedy show more through interviews with experts and lively writing that deliver accurate reports about him. I love this book because it captures how popular he became and highlighted his influence for around the world from the past to present. It pushes readers to open up their opinions about values, leadership, and characteristics of a highly successful person. show less

This is a chapter biography about the 35th president of the USA. It tells the story of John F. Kennedy's life and accomplishments from his birth to his death. There are pictures and other bits of information throughout the book. At first I wasn't sure if I wanted to read this book because I already knew so much about Kennedy's presidency. I was surprised to find that it focused on Kennedy's whole life and I really enjoyed adding this information to what I already knew. It is important for children to be able to read about people who made an impact on the Country this biography is perfect for that purpose.

The biography of John F Kennedy is written in the first person linear fashion. It is definitely for younger children and skims each detail of Kennedy's life. Initially, the author took care to discuss JFK's youth and family life which would set the stage for Jack's future as an adult in politics, but as the book progresses, the details became less in-depth. For example, when discussing how Kennedy was rescued after he was shipwrecked during World War II was surprised that there was no mention of the famous coconut he scribbled his message on to help coordinate the rescue attempt.
Unfortunately, the author does not include any bibliographical information other than listing the primary sources of all the photos included in the book. There show more is simply a website encouraging kids to learn more.
Most disturbing, on page 17, the author lists the five youngest presidents sworn into office with Theodore Roosevelt as the youngest at age 42 and John F Kennedy listed as second at the age of 43. The very next page, the author speaks of his inauguration and deems JFK as "the youngest man ever elected to the highest office in the land."
Overall this biography gives a broad view of Kennedy's life and there are some interesting "did you know?" passages included throughout the book, for example, there is a passage on Rosa Parks and also Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation. show less

I can definitely recommend using that book to give pupils an insight of President Kennedys' life. The book tells the story of JFK's life, briefly, from birth to assassination in a very lively and interesting way with using lots of photographs that contain extra information besides.
On various pages,a few sidebars give the reader further details to the table other than those discussed in the text.The book does not only focus on the Presidency of Kennedy, moreover, it lists important incidents of his childhood, tells the story of his life until he became President and it lets us know about the impact he had brought to America and its citizens.

I really enjoy the Time biographies because they are filled with info but also there's a lot of pictures and fun facts. I remember reading the Time books when I was younger and still have some. It's important for kids to know the president's but this helps you learn things about them that will make them stand out. I suggest this for any child and will probably read this to my sister's who are 7 and 11.

This "Time for Kids - Biographies" collection is amazing. I've read 5 of them and every single one was so interesting. You can get a lot of new facts about important people in history but in a simple and playful way. Children would not even notice that they are broadening their common knowledge by reading these books. Highly recommendable for reading non-fiction!