FIRST KIDS

Capitalizing on the interest in the Obama girls, Step into Reading has reissued an updated version of their familiar First Kids (2004) with Malia and Sasha on the cover. Not much has changed here save the final chapter, which discusses the first months of Malia and Sasha’s tenure as White House kids. Unfortunately, the antics of Tad Lincoln, the Roosevelt menagerie and the Coolidge boys are much more captivating than the rather tame stories of the newest residents. Modern children, used to the up-to-the-minute news stream of the Internet, will miss the tales they have followed online of the Obama girls at school and in the vegetable garden and, of course, the stories of their new dog, Bo. The historic tales of the former child residents of the White House remain as engrossing as ever, though. Davis knows his audience and focuses on the subjects that children love: pets, playing, family and being naughty. New readers who want to know about young White House residents will have a good-enough start here. (Informational early reader. 4-8)