Grandmother Remembers, Christmas at the White House

Grandmother Remembers is an easy introduction to the Presidents beginning with Calvin Coolidge. It presents them as real people with their own traditions, hobbies and interests, and shows how these play out at Christmastime. Dwight Eisenhower, for example, painted the art for many of his Christmas cards. Franklin Roosevelt, the biggest Christmas fan who ever lived in the White House, made it into a three-day festival. First Lady Barbara Bush rode a cherry picker to the top of the National Christmas Tree to place the star a record-breaking 12 times. Pat Nixon initiated the tradition of the Gingerbread House. Eleanor Roosevelt began her Christmas shopping in January and filled her Christmas closet all year long. Betty Ford even invited Big Bird to a White House children's holiday party. Such stories make the First Family accessible to young readers. Parents and teachers also have the opportunity to brush up on their history through the book's historical notes that begin with a description of the first Christmas spent in the White House by John Adams. These notes highlight an event of each holiday from Coolidge to 2001, when memories and threats of terrorism loomed large in the minds of George W. and Laura Bush and everyone else.Mary Evans Seeley is the author of 'Grandmother Remembers, Christmas at the White House' with ISBN 9780965768443 and ISBN 0965768449.