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ABOUT THE BOOK
NO SPOILERSHistorian Doris Kearns Goodwin says she learned to tell stories at six, keeping score of Brooklyn Dodgers games on the radio in a red scorebook from her father so she could describe every inning to him after dinner. In this book for young readers she follows the four presidents she calls "my guys" from boyhood to the White House. Abraham Lincoln grows up in a frontier cabin with no electricity or running water and scours the countryside to borrow books and reads every one he can lay his hands on. Theodore Roosevelt, a sickly boy with asthma from a wealthy New York City family, fills his bedroom with animal specimens. Franklin Roosevelt is the center of his parents' lives on an estate along the Hudson River, and Lyndon Johnson is a Texas Hill Country boy who loves his grandfather's cowboy stories. Along the way each one faces failure and disappointment, and the book asks how four very different boys grew into leaders.
Free Battle of the Books questions for The Leadership Journey: How Four Kids Became President
SPOILERSEvery one of these has the same answer, and that is the point. In a real battle the question is read aloud with a dozen other books in play, and students have a few seconds to place it. Here is what a battle might ask about The Leadership Journey: How Four Kids Became President. Use them as a quiz, a trivia round, or BOTB practice.
Where in the book they come from
- Early in the book
In what book does a tree stump serve as a stage for a young storyteller?
✓ Answer
The Leadership Journey: How Four Kids Became President by Doris Kearns Goodwin
A childhood friend recalled that the boys would gather around young Abraham to hear him talk. He would climb onto a tree stump or log as a stage to tell his stories, and at the end he laughed so heartily that soon everyone was laughing with him.
- First half
In what book does a father hire an ex-prizefighter after his son meets two bullies on a stagecoach?
✓ Answer
The Leadership Journey: How Four Kids Became President by Doris Kearns Goodwin
While traveling alone on a stagecoach to Moosehead Lake in the north woods of Maine, Teedie was picked on by two bullies and found he could not fight back. He resolved never again to be put in such a helpless position, and when he told his father he wanted to learn to box, Thee hired an ex-prizefighter to train him.
- First half
In what book do children coax their pony onto an elevator when their seven-year-old brother is sick?
✓ Answer
The Leadership Journey: How Four Kids Became President by Doris Kearns Goodwin
The Roosevelt children made the White House their own, roller-skating across its wooden floors and hiding live reptiles in sofa cushions. When seven-year-old Archie was sick, they coaxed their pony to ride the elevator to the second-floor bedroom.
- Second half
In what book does a boy pasting stamps recite the last paragraph his mother just read aloud?
✓ Answer
The Leadership Journey: How Four Kids Became President by Doris Kearns Goodwin
Sara recalled reading to Franklin one night while he lay sprawled on his tummy, sorting and pasting his stamps, and she put the book down because she thought he wasn't listening. He looked up, quoted the last paragraph of the essay word for word, and said he would be ashamed if he couldn't do at least two things at once.
- Second half
In what book is a puzzled housepainter told to call a wealthy visitor by his first name?
✓ Answer
The Leadership Journey: How Four Kids Became President by Doris Kearns Goodwin
To kick off his first race for the state senate, Franklin went looking for Tom Leonard, the local Democratic committeeman, who was painting a house on the Roosevelt estate. When Leonard greeted him as Mr. Roosevelt, Franklin answered, "No, call me Franklin. I'm going to call you Tom," and asked his advice about getting into politics.
- Near the end
In what book does a newcomer to a hotel brush his teeth every ten minutes just to meet people?
✓ Answer
The Leadership Journey: How Four Kids Became President by Doris Kearns Goodwin
When Johnson went to Washington to run Congressman Richard Kleberg's office, he settled into the Dodge Hotel, where most congressional secretaries lived. He took four separate showers in the shared bathroom his first night and brushed his teeth every ten minutes the next morning, all to meet as many people as he could.
