Mind Your Manners, Alice Roosevelt!

Mind Your Manners, Alice Roosevelt
by Leslie Kimmelman

I love this book. In simple words, it tells the story of the eminently capable President Theodore Roosevelt, a man who fought in wars, dealt with business leaders, and ran America, but failed to rein in his daughter, Alice. The story neatly parallels Teddy’s successes with his failures to control Alice. The pictures show a mischievous Alice and a bewildered Teddy and include bubbles of their conversations.

I would have loved this book more if I hadn’t already read last year’s book about Alice Roosevelt, a remarkably similar story of Alice’s exploits.

A sample:
“Teddy knew how to handle the Russians and the Japanese
when they couldn’t stop fighting each other.
Teddy got them to shake hands and make up.
He got a Nobel Peace Prize for that.
Teddy knew how to handle the planet.
He helped create a system of national parks
so that the land and wildlife were protected.
But Teddy Roosevelt didn’t always know
how to handle his oldest daughter, Alice.
He told her that while she lived under his roof,
she had to obey his rules. What did Alice do?
She simply decided to spend her time over his roof!”