The Presidents’ Tailor

The Presidents’ Tailor by Kathleen Smith tells the real-life story of a man named Georges de Paris who served as a tailor to nine Presidents of the United States as well as the UK’s Prime Minister Blair. The first thing readers will notice is the beautiful cover, which shows Georges with all of the Presidents he served. The fine detail in this illustration, with its rich colors, will draw both children and adults into this book.

Written in rhyme, The Presidents’ Tailor has a delightful rhythm to its prose. The feeling of the book is both nostalgic and happy. Readers learn that Georges was born in France and sailed to Washington, D.C.. The book shows all nine Presidents whom he designed and created suits for. These Presidents were Lyndon Johnson, Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama. Throughout the book, we see Georges at work, measuring and cutting fabric, and fitting the Presidents for the suits they preferred.

The illustrations in The Presidents’ Tailor are by Nimali Udugama and are brilliant from cover to cover. The way Nimali uses a variety of real-world colors and pairs them with shading to create a 3D effect had me staring at each illustration for several minutes. Udugama captures the expressions of Georges and all of the Presidents perfectly, and I enjoyed seeing Georges work his magic with each of them. My favorite President was Ronald Reagan, and I love how Smith tells readers about his love for jelly beans. I remember this about him as a child and loved that even though he was an adult, he still loved candy!

The Presidents’ Tailor highlights the life of a man who most people don’t know about because he was behind the scenes creating beautiful garments for the Country’s leaders. I truly enjoyed learning about Georges and each President he worked with. The suits he created were worn to some of the Country’s most important events, such as the State of the Union and Obama’s acceptance of the Nobel Peace Prize. Gerald Ford was even buried in a de Paris suit.

This book will appeal to young and old readers alike. This is a fun book for children to learn a little about an interesting man and some facts about our past Presidents. I would recommend this fabulous book to people of all ages and genders.

For further information and ordering, please visit www.kathleensmithbooks.com