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McGill, Erin

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

40 pp. | Random/Schwartz & Wade | July, 2020 | Trade ISBN 978-0-593-12269-3 $17.99 | Library ISBN 978-0-593-12270-9 $20.99 | Ebook ISBN 978-0-593-12271-6
(2) K-3 "If you want a friend in Washington, get a dog." That quote, attributed to Harry S. Truman, is probably apocryphal, but it certainly makes for an entertaining picture-book premise. McGill begins by explaining that many presidential pets have indeed been dogs, 142 of them showcased in a spread of loose-lined spot illustrations with captions for each of the dogs' names ("Drunkard Washington"; "Veto Garfield"). Then she relates a few stories about particular presidents and their canines (including Truman, who didn't keep the cocker spaniel that a supporter sent him). This narrative pattern repeats as McGill notes that sometimes presidents prefer cats (twenty of those), horses (fifty-five), other farm animals (thirty-two), or birds (forty-two). Or even exotic big animals (Jefferson's grizzlies; lions named "Tax Reduction and Budget Bureau Coolidge"). Or small critters (the Quincy Adams silkworms; the guinea pigs and flying squirrels in Theodore Roosevelt's family). Organization of the pets by category creates an easy-to-follow structure for sharing lots of fascinating presidential trivia, and the cartoony illustrations, rendered in cut paper, ink, gouache, marker, and colored pencil, are playful and kid-friendly. For context, McGill has appended sources and a list with each president, his years in office, and the types and names of all of his pets (or occasional lack thereof). The front and back endpapers round out the presentation with black-and-white photos of First Families posing with their pets.
Reviewer: Cynthia K. Ritter | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2020

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