'Ghost of the White House' is a picture book written and illustrated by Cheryl Harness. Harness decides she wants to make a picture book that teaches young children about the presidents of the United States. Instead of simply pages and pages of information about our past presidents, Harness comes up with the idea to create a book that takes a tour around the White House. On this tour Sara, on a field trip with the rest of her class at George Washington Elementary, is pulled into the ghost world of the White House. Our first president, George Washington senses her strong curiosity about the White House and if there are any secret rooms hidden in its wings. Mr. Washington takes Sara on a tour where Sara doesn't just see the many rooms of the White House, but she gets to meet every president who took the oath. In each of Cheryl's pages and spreads she takes a different room of the White House and includes presidents on each of them with text that talks about these individuals' contributions to their country or what they are known for. Cheryl includes some compelling dialogue between the presidents' ghosts, making for a fun tour book. Although a bit busy in some of the pages, the concept is a good one presented in a nice structure that informs readers about the history of the U.S. presidents. ( )

Summary & Review:
A full historical background of the presidents and the white house. There are biography portions of the text which tackle the era of each president. This chapter book includes drawings between the factual information that is being presented to keep all readers engaged. ( )

Great way to introduce children to the White House and it's history. Everyone loves a ghost story.

See also Ghosts of the Twentieth Century by Cheryl Harness ( )