Don't You Dare Shoot That Bear! A Story Of Theodore Roosevelt

Don't You Dare Shoot That Bear! A Story Of Theodore Roosevelt - Robert Quackenbush
Prentice-Hall
ISBN: 0-13-218496-6

My rating: 5 out of 5

Teddy Roosevelt has always been one of my favorite presidents to study, mainly because he was so active and untraditional. This book certainly does his story justice. This book is short, but it highlights the main points in his life, including how he became associated with the teddy bear. It does not discuss his death or how he got shot while campaigning, but it's probably a good thing it doesn't, considering the target audience.

I really liked how, in additional to the regular text, there were a group of teddy bears at the bottom of every other page either giving other Roosevelt facts, or acting out the scene. One example that sticks out is when the book talks about the charge up San Juan Hill. There is a teddy bear with a hat and a wooden sword yelling, "Charge!" The other bear looks at him from behind a cash register and says, "I'm sorry, but we don't accept charge accounts at this store." This made me laugh aloud.

"Don't Shoot That Bear!" is a short and informative biography about one of our more interesting presidents. If a student finds biographies or non-fiction boring, this book may help get them interested.