Editorial Review

This entry in the well-written’ Our Presidents’ series details Richard Nixon’s early years in California, the rise to political life, the accomplishments of his presidency and his resignation. A variety of photographs show his family, his emerging political activity and vice-presidency under Dwight E. Eisenhower, and some of the causes he worked for, including anti-Communism. Sidebars include interesting facts and the picture captions are informative and lengthy enough to inform casual browsers. A two-page biography of Pat Nixon is also included. Each book in the series ends with a glossary defining highlighted words in the text, a timeline specific to the president’s life, a complete table of presidents through George W. Bush with their home states, life spans, presidential spans, political party and the name of their first ladies. Included are a page of ‘Presidential Facts’ and numerous web sites and relevant suggested other resources, as well as an index. All in all, it’s a strong, informative and very readable contribution to the literature about presidents for upper elementary and middle-school readers.