David Stabler - Kid Presidents: True Tales of Childhood from America’s Presidents

Copyright 2014 by Quirk Productions, Inc.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher.

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Number:

2013957088

eBook ISBN: 978-1-59474-732-8

Hardcover ISBN: 978-1-58474-731-1

Designed by Gregg Kulick

with Doogie Horner and Josh McDonnell

Illustrations by Doogie Horner

Illustration coloring by Mario Zucca

Hardcover production management by John J. McGurk

Quirk Books

215 Church Street

Philadelphia, PA 19106

quirkbooks.com

v3.1

nce upon a time, a Virginia farm boy named George Washington was playing with a hatchet in his parents garden. He came upon his fathers favorite cherry tree, which he proceeded to chop and chop until the tree fell crashing to the ground. When Georges father confronted him, George replied with words that have been duly recorded in history books ever since:

At that moment, a gust of wind arose and knocked the guilty boy off his feet. From out of the sky came a huge and mighty fire-breathing dragon.

The fearsome creature scooped up George and carried him off to its lair, in a magical land populated by flying pigs and winged monkeys. There George was adopted by a dragon family and treated with kindness.

Of course, that whole story is a fantasy, beginning with the part about the boy and the hatchet. Young George Washington never chopped down a cherry tree. He never said I cannot tell a lie. Thats just a story a pastor named Mason Weems invented in the early 1800s, and schoolbooks have been repeating it ever since.

The real George Washington was just a regular kid. In fact, every president in United States history started out like you and me. Sure, many of them grew up to achieve amazing things. But as children, they went to school, played sports, fought with their brothers and sisters, and did all the crazy things kids do.

So in this book we wont even pretend that George Washington chopped down a cherry tree. But we will tell you about the time he tried swimming across the Potomac Riverand nearly drowned.

And youll read about how a young John F. Kennedy was always fighting with his big brother Joe.

And youll read about how a young Dwight Eisenhower dealt with bullies, older brothers, and a savage barnyard goose.

Youll read about how young Ronald Reagan overcame his bad eyesight, picked up a pair of glasses, and became the legendary lifesaver of Dixon, Illinois.