Terri DeGezelle does a wonderful job introducing children to Franklin D. Roosevelt, and the Great Depression. We are given a kid-friendly explanation of the Great Depression, and how it effected our country. Franklin Roosevelt came along and created a plan called the "New Deal". New Deal created job opportunities for people who were affected by the depression, and it actually worked. Soon after the depression ended, Pearl Harbor happened and forced the United States to go to war. Roosevelt passed away during World War II, and Truman had to take over and make some hard decisions. World War II ended, and everyone was at peace and able to work thanks to Roosevelt.

I judged a book by its cover on this one. I thought this book was going to be boring, and it turned out to be very interesting and engaging. I loved how the author went into a kid-friendly detail of what the Great Depression was and why it was so devastating. It also explains what the stock market is and what shares are, which I thought was really cool because I don't think this is a topic that is introduced to young students. We then learn about the attack on Pearl Harbor, and how the United States was forced to go to war. When World War II ended, the Great Depression was over. I love how the book added so much historical information, but it didn't feel overwhelming. The book flowed well and, even as an adult, I learned so much. ( )

This book is about Franklin D. Roosevelt. It gives some history on him like how he had polio as a child and how he used a wheel chair. It talks about how he was elected during the time of the great depression and how he had a plan to get out of it. It talks about his New Deal plan. How he created jobs. It talks about the dust bowl and how in the plains states there was a drought and dust covered everything. It tells about the attack on Pearl Harbor and how America went to war and how things were rationed during this time.

I love history, and the great depression has always fascinated me so I like this book. I like how it discussed how the plains states were going through a difficult time at the same time as when the nation was in a financial drought. I wish it would have gone into more detail about the dust bowl. There were parts that told what it was like for children in the great depression so that kids can try to understand how tough this time was.

I would use this book in a history unit of course, or it could be used to go over a unit about presidents. You could use it to discuss diseases as well since there is a short bit about polio and the effect it had on President Roosevelt.