This post was written as a Master's course assignment for Texas Woman's University.
1. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Singer, Marilyn. 2013. RUTHERFORD B. WHO WAS HE? Illustrated by John Hendrix. New York, NY: Hyperion Books. ISBN 9781423171003.
2. BOOK SUMMARY
Marilyn Singer's book about each United States president, and the things that made him unique, is a classic and unforgettable collection of poems. Each poem provides insight into the mind of each president, and gives the reader a lovely, rhyming, personalized scope of the span of American history. Brief biographies at the end add even more interesting background information to supplement the presidential poems.
Singer's rhymes give the poems a polished air, all the while adding bits of quirks and humor. Our first president, GEORGE WASHINGTON, "...agreed to father a newborn nation- and never took a real vacation." On several occasions, Singer uses a conversation snippet between multiple presidents to convey an idea of their values and political goals. In ANDREW JACKSON/MARTIN VAN BUREN, we learn about the "Indian Removal Act," though not explicitly stated, through the "dialogue" between these two presidents: "It's our splendid mission/to extend our area of freedom./The Indians must move farther west.(Jackson) (Van Buren): But what if they refuse?/What if they protest?"
We see all sorts of quirks, prideful moments, promises made, and promises fulfilled. We see, in bright vivid details, the most-loved, most-hated, most-trusted, and most-useless of the presidents. The longest terms, the repeat terms, the ones who died, and the ones we loved; all of the presidents come to life in a memorable, personable way. THEODORE ROOSEVELT seems like a walking contradiction, but one that we remember because: "A president should speak quite softly,/but always carry a very large stick."
This book is a wonderful example as a supplemental resource for social studies and history classes. In DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER, we see why: "They liked Ike... He said the U.S. should wage peace,/while flaunting nuclear power./He took no credit, took no heat-/Dwight D. Eisenhower." The rhymes contain bits of policy, preferences, and power struggles, but in an accessible, and not overwhelming, way. RICHARD M. NIXON's poem is a "reverso" poem (Singer's specialty), written first one way, and then in the reverse order, adding even more gravitas to his "tricky" situation.
Illustrations by John Hendrix bring the poems into colorful, vibrant portraits full of humor. Built like humorous political cartoons, Hendrix adds layers to each outstanding poem. For example, nestled in the burning fireplace of the poem JOHN ADAMS/THOMAS JEFFERSON lies a quote that accentuates the conversation between the two men: "The most valuable of all talents is that of never using TWO WORDS when ONE will do." For ABRAHAM LINCOLN, we see the back of the president's famous stovepipe hat, with this quote: "I am a slow walker, but I never walk back." The details in the illustrations help to cement the images in the poetry.
3. POEM HIGHLIGHT
The poem I choose to highlight is JOHN F. KENNEDY. His presidency was fraught with big issues, but he remained an admirable leader for many in this country. This poem would be a perfect introduction to a history or social studies unit for a more in-depth study of this time period. As an educational follow-up, I would lead the students in a search for more information about space travel: where we've been, where we are now, and where we're headed in the future. Also, we would design and cut out the best, most aerodynamic shapes for spacecraft, former and future.
JOHN F. KENNEDY
(Democrat, 1961 - 1963)
Vision and television made him a star.
He told us we would travel far
in the Peace Corps, to outer space.
But there were perils we would face:
Soviet missiles at our back door,
the alarming threat of nuclear war,
the growing strife in Vietnam.
His was not a time of calm.
Yet he gave us hope. He gave us the Moon.
He gave us a presidency that ended too soon.
By Marilyn Singer
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