Don't Know Much About the Presidents

Ready for some quirky facts about the presidents of the United States? Andrew Jackson had to sneak out of his own inauguration party and sleep in a hotel because his fans got so wild. Poker-playing Warren G. Harding once gambled away a set of White House china. Lyndon B. Johnson was an auto mechanic, a grape picker, and a high-school teacher before becoming president.

Kenneth C. Davis's tremendously popular Don't Know Much About... series takes on America's commanders in chief in this entertaining, often enlightening guide to the 43 presidents. Each president is allotted a page or three, which includes years in office, highlights of his time in power, and weird bits of trivia, including George Washington's propensity for brushing his horse's teeth every morning (although he himself didn't believe much in bathing) and spiffy dresser Chester Arthur's habit of changing his pants many times a day. A timeline runs along the bottom of most pages, describing major milestones in American history. It's fun and educational, how about that? (Ages 6 to 10) --Emilie Coulter