JFK

by Jonah Winter, AG Ford (Illustrator)

Overview

The New York Times bestselling team that brought readers Barack in 2008 presents this picture book biography of John F. Kennedy, the 35th president of the United States of America. JFK tells how a little boy grew up to be president in a story about hope and courage and the power of words. It details JFK's childhood as well as his presidency and includes the Cuban missile crisis, the civil rights movement, the Camelot years, and a firsthand account of his assassination. This nonfiction picture book is an excellent choice to share during homeschooling, in particular for children ages 4 to 6. It’s a fun way to learn to read and as a supplement for activity books for children.

JFK's is a story that has been told by many voices. Acclaimed picture book biographer Jonah Winter offers his own voice and memories about JFK and his significance in this heartfelt personal profile, illustrated in vibrant detail by award-winning artist AG Ford.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780061768071
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	10/22/2013
Pages:	32
Sales rank:	1,099,565
Product dimensions:	8.78(w) x 11.28(h) x 0.42(d)
Lexile:	NC850L (what's this?)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Jonah Winter grew up in Dallas, Texas, and saw JFK on November 22, 1963, moments before he was assassinated. Mr. Winter is the author of many celebrated biographies for young readers, including the New York Times bestselling Barack, also illustrated by AG Ford; You Never Heard of Sandy Koufax?!; Dizzy; and Frida.

AG Ford is a New York Times bestselling artist and recipient of two NAACP Image Awards and has illustrated more than thirty books for children, including picture books by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Sharon Robinson, Ilyasah Shabazz, Martin Luther King III, Nick Cannon, Jonah Winter, the Archbishop Desmond Tutu, and many others. He grew up in Dallas and attended the Columbus College of Art and Design and now lives in Frisco, Texas, with his wife, Brandy, and their two sons, Maddox and Carter.

Editorial Reviews

…the illustrator AG Ford's John Currin-like realism makes Jonah Winter's new biography, JFK, sparkle like a Life magazine collectors' edition, but…it is the text that produces the true startle effect.

The New York Times Book Review - Harold Holzer

09/30/2013
Winter opens this picture-book biography of John F. Kennedy with his 1963 assassination and a striking bit of personal history: just a year old, Winter himself was there that day in Dallas: “I watched his car pass by, watched him waving to the crowds of cheering people, watched him getting smaller and smaller as the car drove on.” Beginning the book with tragedy allows Winter to conclude it with a sense of hope and promise, after whisking readers on a tour of select moments in Kennedy’s life, from sickly daydreamer who “loved words” to war hero, senator, and president. Throughout, Winter emphasizes how Kennedy’s charisma and eloquence served him both in campaigning for the presidency and in diffusing situations like the Cuban Missile Crisis. Ford, who collaborated with Winter on 2008’s Barack, contributes fairly static paintings, several based on iconic photographs (a b&w image of Kennedy debating Nixon on TV; a 1931 photo of the Kennedy family on the beach in Hyannis Port). A rosy and somewhat thin account of Camelot. Ages 4–8. Illustrator’s agent: Steven Malk, Writers House. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly

An appealing introduction to the Kennedy legend. — School Library Journal

At every turn, Winter successfully turns his own admiration for JFK into a new profile of courage. — San Francisco Chronicle Book Review

From the Publisher

At every turn, Winter successfully turns his own admiration for JFK into a new profile of courage.

San Francisco Chronicle Book Review

09/01/2013
PreS-Gr 2—The initials that make up the title of this admiring picture-book biography send a message to its readers: the smiling man on the cover was so important that even today, people recognize those three letters. The narrative begins with the author's personal connection to President John F. Kennedy, a glimpse of him in a parade in Dallas, Texas, on the day of the assassination. Winter was only a year old, but, he says, he's heard the story often. After these opening scenes, he provides a chronological summary of Kennedy's life, from sickly childhood in the shadow of a "perfect" older brother through a successful, if short, adult life of public service. Two accomplishments highlighted are writing Profiles in Courage and averting nuclear war during the Cuban Missile Crisis. Like this team's Barack (HarperCollins, 2008), this title verges on homage. Several spreads show Kennedy in front of admiring crowds, including a green mall packed with spectators at his inauguration (the scene shows no trace of the eight inches of snow that fell the night before). Rockwell-like vignettes show the young Joe, Jr. playing football and the young Jack reading about Camelot; gold-framed portraits show the two as war heroes. In keeping with Kennedy's own carefully crafted image, the sun always shines on his family. For the youngest historians, however, this is an appealing introduction to the Kennedy legend.—Kathleen Isaacs, Children's Literature Specialist, Pasadena, MD

School Library Journal

2013-09-15
An homage to the 35th president of the United States, marking the 50th anniversary of his assassination. Winter frames his narrative with personal statements, opening with an anecdote that he was a baby watching on his father's shoulders in Dallas on November 22 and concluding with a gushy testimonial. In between, he covers the litany of Kennedy's sickly childhood, World War II heroism, presidential campaign and three years in office, playing into the Kennedy mythology without restraint. The story of the older brother killed in combat and the second son assuming the political mantle is more legend than fact, and Kennedy's support of the civil rights movement was more conservative than implied. The crux of the West Virginia primary was whether or not a Catholic could carry a Protestant state, not economics. In addition, the Camelot aura arose from an interview Jacqueline Kennedy gave to Theodore White, not from JFK's childhood reading. Winter does not mention the space program but does devote a page to the Cuban missile crisis. He concludes that JFK was flawed, but "his words and his spirit live on." The only sourcing is one website recommended for further reading. The brevity of the form and the youth of the audience is no excuse for hagiography instead of history. Ford's full-color paintings reproduce period photographs, some making a very good-looking family appear singularly unattractive. Overwrought and flawed history accompanied by unappealing illustrations. (Picture book/biography. 5-8)

Kirkus Reviews