The Changing White House

Children's Literature

On November 1, 2000, the White House celebrated its two hundredth birthday. Barbara Feinberg chronicles the birth and life of this most famous American home, from the design contest held by George Washington (the only president never to live in the White House) to creation of a White House web site during the Clinton administration (http://www.whitehouse.gov). On a page of "fun facts," we learn that the four-year-old granddaughter of John and Abigail Adams was the first child to live at the White House—and that the first email message to the White House was received on June 1, 1993. (Now the president receives 2,000 to 5,000 e-mail messages per day.) The book is more about the physical building than its inhabitants—the additions, renovations, technological innovations, such as telephones added in 1877 and a bomb shelter and movie theater in 1941. Along with names, dates and several pages of solid text, there are also many tidbits of interesting information and humorous photos. For example, Theodore Roosevelt's son, Quentin, smuggled a pony into the White House for his ailing younger brother, and the oversize President Taft ordered a huge bathtub (shown holding four normal size men). The book includes a short glossary, an index and a timeline. It is part of an extensive series "Cornerstones of Freedom" that also including titles about the first ladies, and other historical sites such as the FDR Memorial, Monticello, The Lincoln Memorial, Mt Vernon and the National Mall. 2000, Children's Press/Grolier, $20.50. Ages 8 to 14. Reviewer: Karen Leggett