Ritu Upadhyay

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.… (meer)

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 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.… (meer)

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 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.… (meer)

A close up of the popular suave president, John F. Kennedy. This book entails all the details of his life. John was born on May 29, 1917 and his parents already had good things planned for him; his father was a successful business man and his mother the daughter of the mayor of Boston, so it was quite obvious that John would do great things. He grew up in a strict household with his eight siblings. He went to the private school, Choate and made average grades and went on to Harvard where his paper about England not standing up to Hitler was later a best selling book. After Harvard, he went into the Navy where he received medals for his courage and leadership. In 1946 he ran and was elected for congres... This sets the tone for his later achievement as President of the United States.… (meer)