Patrick and the President

by Ryan Tubridy, P.J. Lynch (Illustrator)

Overview

Witnessed through the eyes of a young boy, a captivating story beautifully evokes John F. Kennedy’s return to his ancestral home.

When the beloved president visited Ireland in 1963, he described it as the best four days of his life. And for a generation of Irish people, it was a trip they never forgot. This warmly told, bighearted picture book captures the fevered excitement in the buildup to the president’s visit, all seen through the eyes of a young boy named Patrick who wants to know more than anything what it would feel like to shake the president’s hand. Rooted in historical fact and marking the centennial of John F. Kennedy's birth, this feast of a book offers readers a pure and personal take on JFK’s visit to County Wexford, Ireland. Included in the back matter is a time line that helps amplify the story.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780763689490
Publisher:	Candlewick Press
Publication date:	02/06/2017
Pages:	40
Product dimensions:	10.10(w) x 10.40(h) x 0.50(d)
Age Range:	6 - 9 Years

About the Author

Ryan Tubridy is one of Ireland’s leading and best-loved media personalities, gracing both the Irish and U.K. airwaves, and he has won numerous awards and accolades. He is best recognized as the current host of the long-running chat show The Late Late Show, and is also the author of a nonfiction book for adult readers, JFK in Ireland: Four Days That Changed a President. Ryan Tubridy lives in Dublin.

P.J. Lynch has won the Kate Greenaway Medal twice and the Christopher Medal three times. His research brings impeccable detail to the twenty books he has illustrated, including The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey by Susan Wojciechowski, When Jessie Came Across the Sea by Amy Hest, A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, and Mysterious Traveler by Mal Peet and Elspeth Graham, as well as his author-illustrator debut, The Boy Who Fell Off the Mayflower, or John Howland’s Good Fortune. P.J. Lynch lives in Dublin.

Editorial Reviews

01/30/2017
In his first children’s book, Irish media personality Tubridy returns to the subject of his 2011 adult book, JFK in Ireland, with this story of a fictional boy’s encounter with the U.S. president during Kennedy’s four-day trip to Ireland in 1963. Lynch (The Boy Who Fell Off the Mayflower) recreates the era and setting in startlingly lifelike watercolor paintings brimming with emotion and suffused with light. Freckle-faced Patrick and his parents are elated when they hear that “Himself” will be visiting their town and the nearby Kennedy ancestral homestead. When Patrick’s teacher announces that the students will sing for Kennedy when he lands at the airport, the children’s excitement simmers, boiling over as the president disembarks from his helicopter; they “suddenly sang louder—reaching deeper and deeper for every note”—and Kennedy joins in. It’s an uplifting imagined episode that reflects the way an encounter with fame can energize an entire community. An afterword delves into the details of Kennedy’s visit, including the itinerary of his trip. Ages 6–9. (Feb.)

Publishers Weekly

Lynch captures the narrative's fevered tone in splendidly realistic scenes of close-packed crowds and excited pale faces. Kennedy looks suitably tall, grand, and genial, and Patrick is the very picture of freckle-faced concentration as he slices a Swiss roll and offers it to the great man...meeting the president is always going to be a memorable moment, whoever's holding the office.
—Kirkus Reviews

The text is pleasant and quietly touching. The softly hued illustrations, expertly rendered in watercolor, help to enhance the text...A lovely introduction to a former U.S. president from a unique historical perspective. Consider for U.S. history and biography collections.
—School Library Journal

It’s an uplifting imagined episode that reflects the way an encounter with fame can energize an entire community. An afterword delves into the details of Kennedy’s visit, including the itinerary of his trip.
—Publishers Weekly

It's a story and a book that deserves to be read and reread by every Irish and Irish American child for generations to come.
—Irish Voice

From the Publisher

02/01/2017
K-Gr 3—In June of 1963, President Kennedy visited Ireland. In this fictionalized account, a young Irish lad named Patrick, his family, his schoolmates, and the whole town of Wexford anticipate the arrival of the U.S. president. This is a fine collaboration from Irish broadcast personality Tubridy and award-winning Irish artist Lynch. The narrative starts off gently, with a glimpse of Patrick's home life. The excitement builds as the president's arrival nears. Patrick's dream is realized when he is able to offer Kennedy a Swiss roll he has carefully cut up. The text is pleasant and quietly touching. The softly hued illustrations, expertly rendered in watercolor, help to enhance the text. The artwork is the main focus, as each picture covers two-thirds of the spread, while the text takes up the other third. This is all about Patrick, his town, and Kennedy (Mrs. Kennedy and the rest of the family are not mentioned). Facts about the visit are appended. VERDICT A lovely introduction to a former U.S. president from a unique historical perspective. Consider for U.S. history and biography collections.—Anne Chapman Callaghan, Racine Public Library, WI

School Library Journal

2016-12-06
It's not every day that an Irish lad gets to shake hands with the president of the United States. Recasting his 300-plus-page JFK in Ireland: Four Days that Changed a President (2011) into considerably briefer form, Tubridy commemorates John F. Kennedy's 1963 visit to his ancestral country and hometown through the eyes of a (fictional) schoolboy. It's one peak moment after another, as the news that Kennedy is coming to Wexford has Patrick's dad and dog dancing around the kitchen while his mam sighs "I'm only dying to see him. He's like something from the movies!" Patrick's own class is selected to welcome the distinguished guest with a song, then later the two come face to face at a reception. Lynch captures the narrative's fevered tone in splendidly realistic scenes of close-packed crowds and excited pale faces. Kennedy looks suitably tall, grand, and genial, and Patrick is the very picture of freckle-faced concentration as he slices a Swiss roll and offers it to the great man. "Don't ever wash that lucky hand of yours!" says the boy's mam after. A bit histrionic for easy belief, but meeting the president is always going to be a memorable moment, whoever's holding the office. (historical note with photos and itinerary) (Informational picture book. 6-9)

Kirkus Reviews