JACKIE AND THE BOOKS SHE LOVED

Diamondstein celebrates Jacqueline “Jackie” Bouvier Kennedy Onassis and her lifelong love of reading in this debut illustrated children’s book.

Following a tidy biographical timeline, the author shows the impact that literature had on Jackie throughout various stages of her life and how a passion for reading deepened the first lady’s personal connections. Readers first meet Jackie as a bookish youngster who forgoes naptime for reading, writes stories, and memorizes poetry with her grandfather, who encourages her to write poems of her own. Jackie’s spirited rhyme “Sea Joy” appears in the book (“I can think of nothing I want more / Than to live by the booming blue sea / As the seagulls flutter round about me”). In her teens, Jackie writes for the school newspaper, and her college essay (“People I Wish I Had Known”) wins a Vogue magazine contest. Later, while working as a journalist, she meets her future husband, fellow book enthusiast and then-senator John F. Kennedy. Readers learn about Jackie’s weekly newspaper column (which boosted her husband’s profile during his presidential campaign), the White House guidebook she helped create as first lady, and the ways in which she instilled a love of reading in her children. When she is widowed in 1963, Jackie and her children make a fresh start in New York City and she eventually secures her first publishing job, editing nearly 100 books throughout her career. Langley’s whimsical illustrations, rendered in realistic colors, capture the sparkling creativity of Jackie’s world, while Diamondstein’s quiet, no-frills text reflects the informed and calm demeanor of the crisply tailored subject herself. Excellent additional details can be gleaned from the artwork, such as a selection of books Jackie edited (including Amy the Dancing Bear by singer-songwriter Carly Simon and My Book of Flowers by the late Princess Grace of Monaco). The author, a school library media specialist and teacher, uses age-appropriate language to introduce early readers to a captivating female historical figure and handles delicate themes with care. History fans and book lovers of all ages will adore this.

An enlightening and visually superb bookshelf addition.