Taking a generous view of reading and reading materials, the editors have collected here presidential childhood reading favorites – and those of many First Family members – into 8 groupings:

• History and Geography,
• Play – which includes reading music or learning rules for athletics,
• Animal Tales,
• Speeches and drama,
• Instructional materials that were valued,
• Periodicals subscribed to or borrowed,
• Biographies and autobiographies, and
• Narrative fiction.

The favorites are attested to in the presidents’ words or those of eyewitness reports. The second portion of each chapter contains brief and readable expert commentary about the favorite choices so that readers are able to see the appeal or the cultural context of the selections.

127 color illustrations throughout were chosen to help tell the story of the childhood culture and available resources.

The presidents’ own words, as children or youths or sometimes as fathers, are sometimes surprising, but always rich in human interest and yielding details that help to fill in the cultural expectations and beliefs that shaped the nation’s leaders.