Turning Bo, the White House Dog, into a Teachable Moment
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By Rocco Staino -- School Library Journal, 04/15/2009
Bo, the six-month-old Portuguese water dog who officially joined the Obama household this week, is making lots of headlines—a reminder that White House canines, felines, equines, and, yes, even bovines all make big news.
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Bo, the six-month-old First dog, was a gift from Senator and Mrs. Ted Kennedy |
First ladies and first daughters have well documented the animal activity in the presidential residence. Margaret Truman, daughter of Harry Truman, authored White House Pets in 1969 (David McKay). Barbara Bush, the wife of George H. Bush, wrote the memoirs of her Springer Spaniel in Millie’s Book: As Dictated to Barbara Bush (HarperCollins, 1992). And Hilary Clinton, the Secretary of State and former First Lady, shared correspondence her family received about their pets in Dear Socks, Dear Buddy (S & S, 1998).
Those librarians and teachers working with younger children may
want to check out Pets at the White House Coloring Book, published by the White House Historical Association, or Wackiest White House Pets (Scholastic, 2004) by Gibbs Davis, which comes with teacher activities.
The Williamsburg, VA-based Presidential Pet Museum was founded in 1999 by Claire McLean as a repository and means of preserving information, artifacts, and items related to presidential pets. Make sure to check out its very informative Web site.
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President Obama enjoys a run with Bo. |
The National Children’s Book and Literacy Alliance book Our White House (Candlewick, 2008) brought together 108 authors and illustrators to create a history of the executive mansion. In the book, Richard Peck writes about William Henry Harrison’s cow and Albert Martin describes the menagerie of animals owned by the children of Teddy Roosevelt. Steven Kellogg drew a two-page spread of an imaginary presidential pet show.
