If You Want a Friend in Washington: Wacky, Wild & Wonderful Presidential Pets

Showcasing the madcap menagerie of pets that U.S. presidents have kept, this picture book employs an entertaining refrain based on a Truman quote (“If you want a friend in Washington, get a dog”), that ends here with “and [that] is what many presidents got.” Offering whimsical, if sometimes immediately uncontextualized, facts about animal companions (“George H.W. Bush’s dog, Millie, wrote a book for the First Lady, Barbara”), the book also includes more unusual pets, such as John Quincy Adam’s bathroom-bound alligator. Childlike mixed-media art provide a fitting complement to the buoyant text. The spreads might be more enlightening if catalogued in sequential presidential order, but this book is a treat for anyone with an affinity for pets, presidents, fun facts, or all of the above. Back matter includes a note about the text and art, as well as a consolidated list of each president’s respective pets. Ages 5–9. (July)