Our Family

Our Family

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Timberdoodle Review: A Kid's Guide to Drawing the Presidents of the USA

One of the subjects my older boys (7 and 9) have enjoyed the most is American History. Especially fascinating to them was when we studied each of the American Presidents. That's why I was so excited when I found out we would be receiving a volume of A Kid's Guide to Drawing the Presidents of the USA from Timberdoodle. We received How to Draw the Life and Times of Franklin Delano Roosevelt.


The book is a 32 page library bound book. The book is full of biographical information on FDR including: his birth, death, family, political career, terms of presidency, inportant contributions as president and his legacy. Along with all of this important information, the book contains 10 pages of step by step drawing instructions for things that are related to FDR's presidency. Some of the things you will draw are: Franklin Roosevelt, USS Arizona, Eleanor Roosevelt, the United Nations Flag, a radio microphone, a New Deal cartoon, the Executive Mansion, a wheelchair, the New York Capital, and Springwood. The book also contains a glossary, timeline, and an index.


Timberdoodle has an amazing deal going on these books right now. The 42 book set containing all of the Presidents from George Washington to George W. Bush retails for $1060.50, but they are selling the set now for $195.00 (limited quantities are available.) They are also selling How to Draw the Life and Times of Ronald Reagen, Theodore Roosevelt, Abraham Lincoln, George W. Bush, George Washington and John Quincy Adams for $9.95 each (limited quantities are available.)


To order click here.


To see an example click on How to Draw the Life and Times of Abraham Lincoln here.



Nick (9) and Alex (7) working on their microphone drawings

I think this book is wonderful and can be enjoyed by a wide range of ages. It is filled with factual information and pictures about the presidents (ours being FDR of course.) The information is presented in easily digestible chunks of information. Having the drawing exercises along with it is a great way to reinforce what is being learned. Your child could create a notebook filled with their own drawings of each president's life. There are written drawing instructions as well as a drawn example. The drawing instructions are numbered so you know which order to go in. New instructions are in red in the drawn example making it easy to keep your place.



Chelsea (14) Drawing of The New York Senate



Alex's (7) microphone drawing



At times, I felt that the written drawing instructions were a bit vague and could have been more detailed. You can follow along with their drawn example pretty easily, but I could have used a few more written instructions to read aloud to the children as they were drawing.






To see other History products Timberdoodle has to offer click here.




For a free Timberdoodle catalog click here.



I received a complimentary copy of How to Draw the Life and Times of Franklin Delano Roosevelt as a part of the Timberdoodle Blogger Review team for the purpose of writing a fair and honest review. I received no other compensation.

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