CCBC (Cooperative Children's Book Center Choices, 1990)
The well researched, organized and readable text covers FDR's childhood, college years, early career and four-term U.S. presidency and is augmented by black-and-white photographs. Freedman briefly refers to the dimensions of FDR's personal life, public persona and political career which any reliable biographer would include. A listing of other books about this extraordinary leader and an index complete an exemplary work which illuminates the complex man who accomplished much while he was facing unprecedented national and international challenges. CCBC categories: Biography And Autobiography; History, People And Places. 1990, Clarion, 200 pages, $16.95. Ages 10 and older.

Kirkus (Kirkus Reviews, 1990)
The author of a splendid, Newbery Award-winning Lincoln (1987) uses a similar approach to smother monumental figure. The result is a carefully researched biography, extended by a wealth (125) of well-chosen b&w photos and presented with clarity and precision. Roosevelt is a substantially more difficult subject than Lincoln: his most significant years spanned two historical cataclysms (the Depression and WW II); he is still (as Freedman makes clear) quite controversial; his complex, ambivalent personality was even more enigmatic than Lincoln's; and the abundance of material available about him presents a formidable challenge to any biographer. Perhaps as a result, Roosevelt's story here serum less compelling, his porsonality less vividly realized than Lincolin's. Still, this is a valuable achievement, easily the best biography of its subject available at this level. Bibliographical essay; index; illus. with photos. 1990, Clarion/Houghton Mifflin, $16.95. Starred Review. © 1990 Kirkus Reviews/VNU eMedia, Inc. All rights reserved.

Gail E. Roberts (KLIATT Review, November 1992 (Vol. 26, No. 7))
This is an excellent, readable biography of the man known in my family as "Cousin Franklin." (We're related through the Delanos.) Using photos and humorous anecdotes, Freedman brings Roosevelt to a human level. This is an honest account, referring to failures as well as successes, quoting from critics as well as from supporters. Starting with FDR's youth, the biography takes us through his years at Harvard, as governor of New York, and on to the presidency. It deals with all of the Roosevelt years, from the Depression through WW II, to his death. Printing this in paperback makes this biography more affordable for smaller libraries. KLIATT Codes: JS--Recommended for junior and senior high school students. 1990, Houghton Mifflin/Clarion, $7.95. Ages 12 to 18.

Daniel Dailey (The Five Owls, September/October 1990 (Vol. 5, No. 1))
My favorite good-luck piece is a "Rebuild With Roosevelt" coin from FDR's 1932 election for the presidency. I was lucky indeed to have had an opportunity to review Russell Freedman's new biography of FDR, a worthwhile and handsome book. Whether the reader is coming to this piece of history for the first time or returning as an oldtime familiar, Freedman's lively text provides a satisfying and at times spellbinding portrayal of a great man who reshaped his calamitous times. From the end of the nineteenth century to World War I, the Great Depression, and World War II, the sweeping succession of world events that were the focus of FDR's energy and genius is presented in lucid and enlightening detail. The photographs that Freedman has selected to illustrate his narrative are a delightful mix of the familiar and the unusual. The photo captions are nuggets of interesting and surprising facts that provide a flavor of just how gifted and complex Franklin D. Roosevelt was. If there is one small disappointment in this book, it is that Freedman gives in to the temptation to speculate about what might have been .... if only Roosevelt had sooner recognized the true dimensions of the Holocaust and allowed more Jewish immigrants to enter the United States .... if only FDR had not turned a blind eye to the imprisonment and civil rights abuses of Japanese-Americans. When one considers that FDR was born into a world that accepted minstrel shows and "manifest destiny" as acceptable and normal, and when one considers the upheaval, confusion, and change that were FDR's wartime world, one can appreciate, with Freedman's help, that Roosevelt was one of the truly great innovators of his age. Freedman seems to forget that FDR was making things up as he went along. His path was unexplored and perilous. Errors and lapses of judgment had to occur. But do these particular lapses expose a fundamental failure of character? Having raised the question, Freedman leaves it to us to decide. FDR was one of the most controversial men who ever lived. On the whole, Freedman's presentation of FDR's story is well-balanced, fair, and a joy to read. It is to be recommended for every American and world history library collection. 1990, Clarion Books, $16.95. Ages 11 up.

Horn Book (The Horn Book Guide, 1990)
Photographs. This finely crafted, well-researched book uses photographs and text to portray F. D. R. as an active, athletic young man from a privileged background who later won political office in spite of the paralysis of polio and led the United States out of the Great Depression and through World War II. Bibliography, index. Category: Nonfiction. 1990, Clarion, 200pp.. Ages 14 to 18. Rating: 1: Outstanding, noteworthy in style, content, and/or illustration.