The President's Stuck in the Bathtub: Poems About the Presidents

Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

The President's Stuck in the Bathtub: Poems About the Presidents

by Susan Katz, Robert Neubecker (Illustrator)

4.16 of 5 stars 4.16 · rating details · 95 ratings · 46 reviews

Playful political poems about the penchants and peccadilloes of the presidents! Sure, William Taft got stuck in his tub, but did you know that John Quincy Adams used to skinny-dip in the Potomac? Herbert Hoover spoke Chinese with his wife, and Gerald Ford had his name changed from Leslie Lynch King. It’s true! In The President’s Stuck in the Bathtub, the lives of the presi...more

Hardcover, 64 pages

Published February 8th 2012 by Clarion Books

more details... edit details

Get a copy:

More…

Friend Reviews

To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.

Lists with This Book

Best Middle Grade Novels from Summer Reading 2012

51st out of 65 books — 34 voters

More lists with this book...

Community Reviews

(showing 1-30 of 190)

filter | sort: default (?) | rating details

Mar 27, 2013 Kelly rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: picture-books, read-in-2013

The President's Stuck in the Bathtub, written by Susan Katz and illustrated by Robert Neubecker, is nominated for the 2013-14 South Carolina Children's Book Award.

Although I'm not a fan of poetry, I did enjoy this book. I found the poems about each president to be very informative and, in several cases, funny. The poems themselves were a bit uneven, and it was hard to discern exactly what meter they were supposed to be read in, but the content was interesting. The notes explaining each poem's co...more

like · see review

Mar 13, 2013 CH13_Kieran rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: poetry

I LOVED this book! It is a poetic anthology of all of our presidents. Susan Katz playfully provides tidbits of political and/or personal information about all of the men of the White House. I enjoy this book because it is an excellent way to expose students to the presidents in a light-hearted manner. As a social studies teacher, I feel that we focus so much on the formal accomplishments of presidents that we tend to forget that they were real people. By jokingly bringing up the backgrounds and...more

like 1 like · see review

May 03, 2012 Betsy rated it 4 of 5 stars

Funny what kids pick up. When I was a tot of four I had a little electronic game that came with its own book. You'd turn the pages and press the button that corresponded to the correct trivia question. In this way I learned that Mozart wrote his first piece of music when he was five (I figured I had some leeway because of this), that Marie Antoinette had her head cut off, and that President Taft got stuck in his bathtub because he was so fat. That's the kind of presidential wisdom a kid's gonna...more Funny what kids pick up. When I was a tot of four I had a little electronic game that came with its own book. You'd turn the pages and press the button that corresponded to the correct trivia question. In this way I learned that Mozart wrote his first piece of music when he was five (I figured I had some leeway because of this), that Marie Antoinette had her head cut off, and that President Taft got stuck in his bathtub because he was so fat. That's the kind of presidential wisdom a kid's gonna carry with them the rest of their life. It's also how I learned that teaching kids about famous people at a young age actually will stick with them into adulthood if the medium is interesting enough. Poetry would not be my first method of instilling memories, but in The President's Stuck in the Bathtub!: Poems About the Presidents poet Susan Katz does a darn good job locating fun facts about even the dullest leaders. They may not have been equal in stature but at least in this book each one has his say, whether it's escaping a vicious rabbit or seeing the occasional ghost.

They've been dull and scintillating. Clever and thick. Remarkably tall and surprisingly short. And what's with all the parrots as pets? With great dexterity and even greater patience Susan Katz culls, entices, and sometimes even forces interesting facts out of each and every one of our presidents. That done, she turns those traits or events into poems, being sure to include fun additional facts at the bottom of each page. The result is that kids get to meet "Elevator Operator" John F. Kennedy, the "Funny-Looking" James Buchanan, and even "Vegetating" George H.W. Bush. Accompanied by work by illustrator Robert Neubecker, the book is a ribald look at our nation's leaders. Backmatter includes dates, quotes, nicknames, and "firsts" for each man.

As it says on the bookflap, "Susan Katz discovered while working on this book that not all American presidents were very funny people, and she found herself doing more research for this one project than for all her other books put together." I'm not surprised to hear it since the sheer number of new facts here are astounding. She even seems to have made a conscious effort to avoid the obvious ones (George Washington's teeth, Lincoln's jokes, etc.). Of course, you can't help but wonder if Ms. Katz made too much work for herself when she included a note on what each president was the "first" to do, and didn't go with the obvious answers. George Washington? "First president pictured on a postage stamp." Abraham Lincoln? "First president born outside the boundaries of the thirteen original states (in Kentucky)." No mean feat.

In one of the reviews I read the reviewer complained that Katz brings up facts about the presidents that aren't particularly interesting (Millard Fillmore was boring, James Madison was short, John Adams rotund, etc.). Seems to me that isn't very fair consider how much fun their poems (and the accompanying illustrations) are in the end. Besides, I consider Millard Fillmore the letter X of the presidential world. You know how every time you get an alphabet book you flip to the letter X to figure out how the authors chose to handle that difficult letter? Well the same goes for Fillmore. Even William Henry Harrison's more interesting (as The Simpsons put it, "I died in thirty days!").

The poetry itself mostly worked. There are, however, a few times that it really rankled. I'm not a particularly creative person when it comes to scans and rhymes. I like poems to make sense to me as they ABABAB or AABBCCD. In this book you really have to go on a case-by-case basis with some of these poems. "Yankee Doodle Dandy" about William McKinley, for example, threw me for a serious loop. The rhyme scheme, such as it is, appears to be ABCCD EDFFG. When I write it out like that it makes a lot more sense. On the page, however, I was stumped by how to read it aloud, particularly when the last word of "dandy" didn't seem to rhyme with anything. Poems like these are rarities in a sea of verse that works. I just wished that they all flowed as nicely as poems like "The White House Gang" (about Teddy Roosevelt being a part of his son's rough and tumble crew) or "A Presidential Memo" about Nixon.

Robert Neubecker was an interesting fella to tap for this book. I know he's done a lot of different books over the years but my primary association with him is still Wow City and its spin-offs. Neubecker's job here is hardly easy anyway. First there's the issue of making the presidents recognizable (done well enough, though caricaturist he will never hope to be). Then there's the issue of throwing more than one race into the images. Whenever we talk about the presidents we have to wait an awfully long time before we can get to Barack. Neubecker slips in different ethnicities when he reasonably can. The fellow aghast at John Quincy Adams' skinny dipping. Folks in the angry mob of Whigs (not so sure about that one circa 1841, but all right). The trumpeter playing "Hail to the Chief" to Chester A. Arthur. You don't necessarily believe that they were there all the time (and we could debate if it's historically misleading to say that they were), but at least Neubecker's making an effort. That's something.

As for the art itself, Neubecker has a good eye for what the most interesting thing to highlight in a given poem might be. Often he has to get a little creative. Grover Cleveland was the only president to serve two nonconsecutive terms? Have him shaking hands with himself. President Eisenhower was only one of seven brothers all known as "Ike"? Show a picture of seven identical boys, all different ages, all with the same face. Sometimes the images don't make reference to the poems but to the small notes that come afterwards. For example, the image that accompanies the Rutherford B. Hayes poem "The President's on the Phone" shows Rutherford reacting to a high C described in the note as sung by one of his friends and that shattered the telephone's sounding board. Hey, man. Making this kind of stuff interesting about dudes who are seriously dull is no easy matter.

The closest approximation this book has to any other in your average everyday children's room is that classic Caldecott winner So You Want to be President by Judith St. George. Like this book, that one identified various presidents and highlighted some quirks. Katz eschews the known stories as well as the scandals and controversies that dogged many of the men in here. In the process, she grants some of these fellows a posthumous present: something to remember them by. Not the big things, but the little ones. The details and funny matters that made them human beings. Because as far as I can tell, the best way to get a kid interested in something is to point out something weird about it. After that, it may not be smooth sailing, but at least they'll have something to remember President Taft for (besides the Judiciary Act of 1925, of course).

For ages 6-10. (less)

like · see review

Mar 18, 2012 Julia rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: children-books, poetry-books, 25-text-log

The book I read is called The President's Stuck in the Bathtub, Poems About the Presidents by Susan Katz. This book is mostly about all the president including president Barack Obama. This book will be really interesting for everyone because it tells you true stuff in a story like poem. So, book lovers read this great poetry book that you will all love. Read it with your families, friends, pets or babies! If you love the presidents read this book The Presidents stuck in the Bathtub!

At first I th...more The book I read is called The President's Stuck in the Bathtub, Poems About the Presidents by Susan Katz. This book is mostly about all the president including president Barack Obama. This book will be really interesting for everyone because it tells you true stuff in a story like poem. So, book lovers read this great poetry book that you will all love. Read it with your families, friends, pets or babies! If you love the presidents read this book The Presidents stuck in the Bathtub!

At first I thought that President George Washington only lived in one or two houses because he didn't live in the White House. However, what I figured out is that he lived in Washington's Mill, Barren Hill, Beltsville, Port Tobacco, Pomfret, Whippany, Parsippany, Murdering Town, Nice Town, Hobb's Hole, Hackensack, and etc. There is about 15 more places he slept in. If you think this is impossible check this great book. Also, I thought at first that William Henry Herson did his speech in a nice day. However, I was wrong. He did it on a very rainy day with no hat or an jacket or an umbrella! His speech was about 2 hours long, and 3,800 words. Another thing I never knew was that he only did presidency for one month! I also at first didn't think that Lyndon B Johnson had anything important about him. However, after I read this book I learned that all his family members had the initials LBJ!

One important fact that I learned from this poetry book is that James Madison wasn't tall or proud or medium. He was small, thin, and not heavy. He didn't have anything scary. He had owned a small pleasant parrot unlike lions, and tigers. This is an important fact because this proved to me that instead of being great, and mighty trying to make everyone like them like other presidents. James just moved along making people believe what they thought about him small, and skinny. Another important fact I learned is that Calvin Coolidge spoke the most shortest words in small talks but held 520 press conferences,and gave more speeches than any of his predecessors. This is an important fact because if I hadn't read this book I would have never learned about this.

After you read my response I hope you would read this wonderful poem about all the presidents. I would mostly recommend it to people who love the presidents, and want to know more about them just as mush as I do. I hope you enjoy this book if you read it.(less)

like · see review

Jan 04, 2012 Barbara rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: poetry, picture-book, ncbla2013

What a great idea for a collection of poetry integrating social studies and language arts! The 43 poems are short, informative, often humorous and focus on each of the men who has led our country. The poems are accompanied by some little-known fact or quirk with which kids will love regaling others, such as Abe Lincoln's proclivity for storing notes in his stovepipe hat or Ulysses S. Grant's distaste for hunting or in the title poem, William H. Taft's need for a much larger bathtub than the Whit...more

like · see review

Aug 23, 2012 Krista the Krazy Kataloguer rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-childrens-poetry

I love the concept of this book--a poem about each of the Presidents. However, the quality of the poems was uneven, and it would have been very helpful if a note had been given on each page or at the back of the book as to what poetic form was being used. Some poems rhymed, some didn't. I think this might confuse some young readers. I do like the way the poems reveal little-known facts about each President or his presidency, which made it interesting. I especially liked the poem about Thomas Jef...more

like 2 likes · see review

Jun 07, 2012 Shirley rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: children-s-books

A fun and fast book to read about interesting facts of our Presidents! Each President is given a page, filled with a poem about their tidbit fact, illustrations of the scenario, and a short paragraph explaining the scenario.

I liked this one: (Pg.40)

A Penny for Your Thoughts

"President Coolidge was quiet.
Conversation with him
was a solo,
never a duet.

And then one evening at dinner,
the lady beside him said,
"You have to talk to me."

Coolidge chewed his bread.

Leaning closer, the lady insisted,
"I...more

like · see review

Apr 10, 2013 Christine rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2014-beehive-nominees

Here we have a collection of poems of unusual facts about the presidents of the United States of America. Told chronologically, with information about each president from George Washington to Barack Obama, each poem contained some little tidbit of information that was fun to learn about. Some of the poems were great and easy to catch the rhythm (or meter), others were more difficult and not as catchy. I think adults/teachers will like it more than children/students, so it will make a great read-...more

like · see review

Oct 24, 2012 Allison rated it 3 of 5 stars

RICBA nominee. Marking it a "pass" for the committee. Not the most intelligent book; the poetry is not very well-written. I forgive its lack of literary merit due to the fact that it makes a "boring" subject very funny and appealing for kids. It also spans a vast age group; grades from 3 to 8 would enjoy this book of fun, bizarre, and zany facts about each president. The humorous illustrations matched the text well. What a great title! It would definitely intrigue even the least historically inc...more

like · see review

May 27, 2012 Penny Peck rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: children-ya

Children looking for fun poetry collections will be attracted to the title and the cartoon illustration on the cover - the book contains a poem for each president, paired with comic-style artwork and a factoid. The book concludes with "Presidential Notes and Quotes," so the book does contain some facts. But the poems are not always very memorable; some rhyme, but many are free verse and not as fun to recite. Some teachers may find this useful for school projects and assemblies.

like · see review

Jul 24, 2012 Christy rated it 4 of 5 stars

Clarion Books
Susan Katz
Robert Neubecker
2012
64 pages
Poetry

I learned much from this collection of poems about all the presidents we ever had (Washington through Obama). Not only is there one poem from each president, but the content of the poem mirrors a true fact about that specific president which is written at the bottom of each page. I learned fun and interesting details about the presidents that I could visualize as the poem was being read. Washington never slept in the White House; John Quin...more

like · see review

Oct 18, 2012 Liz rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-2012-13

LOVED this book and all of the poems. Perfect for sharing as we approach election time. Filled with presidential facts from Washington to Obama. Some of the "firsts" shared in the back are hard to believe... (Jimmy Carter was the first president born in a hospital!!!) Trivia and "quirky" facts that students will love to know and a great way to teach a little history, too.

like · see review

Jul 26, 2012 Samantha rated it 5 of 5 stars

A collection of funny poems about all the U.S. presidents (even includes Obama). Poems are great for reading aloud and contain funny anecdotes and a cartoon-y illustration. Beaneath the illustration is a note about the anecdote mentioned in the poem. I learned a lot and I was entertained from beginning to end!

like · see review

Jul 02, 2012 Marjorie Ingall rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: kids-9-12

I always love Robert Neubecker's illustrations (Wow! City!) and I enjoyed the poems in this book, though it still felt school-y to me. (But hey, kids get crazy passions, and if you have a kid who is President-Obsessive it would be a great buy.) I liked the vast variety of poetry forms and tones Katz used.

like · see review

Sep 04, 2012 Steven rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: children, children-early-grade, history-nonfiction, nonfiction, poetry

I wasn't a huge fan of the poetry (I'm a Dr. Seuss man myself), but I found the brief tales about each president interesting and the illustrations humorous. I actually learned a few new things about some of our presidents too (which is saying a lot considering my history nerdiness!)

like · see review

Mar 12, 2012 Megan rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: poetry-song

This book is great because it can be incorporated for more than one purpose. It would be great to include in a social studies unit about the presidents, as well as a unit on poetry. It makes learning about the presidents more exciting than just the standard text book readings.

like · see review

Apr 30, 2013 Marcia rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: poetry, nonfiction

A fun collection of poetry about the POTUS--including Obama, with terrific footnotes full of historical facts. Lots of humor and illustrations make this a great choice for any elementary study of the presidents.

like · see review

Jun 14, 2012 Crystal rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: history, poetry, young-non-fiction, 2012-nerdy-shortlist

Great miscellany about the presidents in poetry form. There were even additional facts at the end. The only thing that was missing was sources for the information.

Reminds me a bit of So You Want to Be President.

like · see review

Nov 16, 2012 Joella www.cinjoella.com rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: americana, poetry, picture-book, non-fiction

Ha! Such funny poems, and I love that just by looking at the title kids will realize that a president got stuck in the bathtub and had to get pulled out. Fun facts about all our presidents!

like · see review

Mar 09, 2012 Sandy rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: pb-non-fiction, poetry, history, multi-age

Poems depicting anecdotes, qualities, events of presidents' lives are explained further in brief text. Humorous illustrations invite discussion of figuratrive language, odd customs, etc.

like · see review

Apr 03, 2012 Rachel rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: poetry, non-fiction, read-2012, clau

Interesting combination of poems and little know tidbits about the presidents, some poems where about family members wish they all could have been about the presidents themselves.

like · see review

Apr 06, 2012 Patricia rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: poetry-children-s

I learned a lot about U.S. presidents in this children's book of poems- I admit that I probably should know more, but this was quite entertaining & educational!

like · see review

Dec 29, 2011 Donalyn rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: children-s-poetry, ncbla-committee-2013-books, 2012-nerdy-book-club-shortlist

43 poems reveal interesting tidbits about every President. Informative footnotes provide historical background for each poem. A fun way to liven up American History.

like 1 like · see review

Jul 17, 2012 Stacey Mulholland rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: children-s-poetry, childrens-nonfiction

Fun book about the presidents in poems. Some of them I liked more than others. I liked the poem about James Garfield, I didn't like the one about Barack Obama.

like · see review

Feb 09, 2012 Yoo Kyung Sung rated it 4 of 5 stars

Informative and engaging poetry book of president theme of the USA. Loved how language has been played out here.
" he couldn't spel rite, but he was't dum"

like · see review

Oct 08, 2012 Edward Sullivan rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: poetry

Playfully illustrated entertaining poems about each president reveal amusing facts and each verse is accompanied by a brief informative note.

like · see review

Jul 21, 2012 Kelley Tackett rated it 5 of 5 stars

A funny poem about each of our President's. I learned a few things I didn't know and laughed out loud several times. We really liked this one.

like · see review

Jul 23, 2012 Andrew Mutch rated it 4 of 5 stars

I enjoyed reading this children's book filled with Presidential factoids. I even learned a few new things about the Presidents!

like 1 like · see review

Jun 12, 2012 Matt rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: poetry, presidents, picture-books

My favorites are the poems for Fillmore, Buchanan, Cleveland, Harding, Eisenhower & W.

like · see review

Dec 01, 2012 Carol Wilcox added it

CYBILS 2012, a poem and a "fascinating fact/story" about each president. Fun.

like · see review

« previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 next »

Non Fiction

8 users

Childrens > Picture Books

6 users

History

5 users

Childrens

4 users

Humor

3 users

American > Americana

2 users

Childrens > Juvenile

2 users

Childrens > Middle Grade

2 users

Biography

2 users

See top shelves...

Books by Susan Katz

Kaplan's Medical Assisting: A Holistic Approach Red Module

More…

Share This Book

Facebook Twitter Your website

Trivia About The President's S...

No trivia or quizzes yet. Add some now »

title link	preview: The President's Stuck in the Bathtub: Poems About the Presidents
avg rating	preview: The President's Stuck in the Bathtub: Poems About the Presidents Goodreads rating: 4.16 (95 ratings)
small image	preview: click here [close]
med image	preview: click here [close]
BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12225924-the-president-s-stuck-in-the-bathtub?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1344679198l/12225924.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12225924-the-president-s-stuck-in-the-bathtub?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]The President's Stuck in the Bathtub: Poems About the Presidents by Susan Katz[/url]

The President's Stuck in the Bathtub: Poems About the Presidents

Friend Reviews

Lists with This Book

Community Reviews

new topic
Discuss This Book

combine
Other Editions (1)

Genres

Books by Susan Katz

Share This Book

Share This Book on Your Website

Trivia About The President's S...

The President's Stuck in the Bathtub: Poems About the Presidents

Friend Reviews

Lists with This Book

Community Reviews

new topicDiscuss This Book

combineOther Editions (1)

Genres

Books by Susan Katz

Share This Book

Share This Book on Your Website

Trivia About The President's S...

new topic
Discuss This Book

combine
Other Editions (1)