OUR WHITE HOUSE

In this sumptuous pro bono volume, 108 children’s authors and illustrators (with the occasional celebrity, president or other official chiming in) contribute original art, personal reminiscences, short stories, poems and historical vignettes about the White House and its residents. The generally chronological arrangement begins with a reproduction of the mansion’s original 1792 RFP and closes with a nighttime view of an empty chair. In between, it offers comments on the early African-American connection by Walter Dean Myers and Milton Meltzer; Richard Peck’s account of William Henry Harrison’s search for a good milk cow; Steven Kellogg’s envisioning of a Presidential Pet Show and much besides. The tone is positive overall, though occasional entries such as a fictive interview with picketing suffragist Alice Paul, and contradictory passages from the 9/11 Commission Report, supply a tincture of controversy. As with Jennifer Armstrong’s monumental American Story (2006), illustrated by Roger Roth, even brief dips into this will leave readers with the clear sense that we do have a national history, and it’s worth knowing too. (source notes, contributor bios, index) (Anthology. 8-adult)