Basher History: US Presidents: Oval Office All-Stars

by Dan Green, Simon Basher (Illustrator), Edward Widmer

Overview

A new edition of Basher's bestselling US Presidents, updated for the 2025 inauguration.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780753480762
Publisher:	Kingfisher
Publication date:	01/14/2025
Series:	Basher History Series
Pages:	112
Product dimensions:	7.00(w) x 6.95(h) x 0.30(d)
Age Range:	9 - 14 Years

About the Author

Artist and designer Simon Basher has fun playing in the world of contemporary character design. Inspired by a love of simple line work and a rich color palette, his characters fill the gap between edgy manga and the cuteness of Hello Kitty. He lives in England.

Dan Green is a freelance science writer and editor who consulted on Basher's previous book for Kingfisher, The Periodic Table.

Editorial Reviews

“As with other Basher books, the humor, bright cartoon illustrations, and conversational ton of this small title will attract young readers. . . . Fun for browsing, this book also offers quick facts and trivia.” —Library Media Connection

“Readers might already know a lot of this, but Basher and Green serve it up in a hip, imaginative style and throw in some lesser-known facts, too.. . .Another fun entry.” —Booklist

“[A]n informative little book ...Though the book is aimed at kids 10 and up, those of us on the far, far end of that age range will find many items of interest in Dan Green's clever text.” —Bookpage- The Book Case

“Reading this book will put you on first name terms with every single one of America's head honchos.” —kidsbookmix.com

From the Publisher

Each of the "Oval Office All-Stars" steps up for a brief say in Basher's newest cartoon gallery--a rare break from his usual STEM topics (Technology: A Byte-Sized World!, 2012, etc.). Sounding downright cheeky ("I was one wise sucker, I can assure you," smirks Thomas Jefferson), each president from Washington to Obama delivers a two-paragraph thumbnail summary of his administration's highlights and, often, lowlights, sandwiched between trios of bulleted "firsts" or trivia. Despite differences in hairstyles, the egg-headed caricatures on each facing page look pretty much alike (Obama excepted), but Basher does add distinguishing dress or other small items, from broken shackles at Lincoln's feet to Calvin Coolidge's pet raccoon. A complete set of postage-stamp–sized official portraits brings up the rear. Green is sometimes loose with his facts--the president is not the "head of the federal government," nor was the system of checks and balances created because presidents "sometimes do stupid things, have crazy ideas, and generally fumble their way through"--and uses an opaque metaphor in characterizing Nixon as "a shifty operator who liked to sail close to the wind" (did he mean "played his cards close to his chest" maybe?). These quibbles aside, the real issue here is that, aside from some of the trivia, all the information is so easily available elsewhere. Like Hanoch Piven's What Presidents Are Made Of (2004), more a quick novelty than a reliable source of information or enlightenment. (foldout poster) (Collective biography. 10-13)

Kirkus Reviews