OF PRESIDENTS AND THEIR HOUSE

Author: By Liz Rosenberg

Date: SUNDAY, February 15, 1998

Page: E3

Section: Books

Big or little, it's a place of fascination to most Americans, including young ones, and ``Ghosts of the White House'' provides a tour de force of the house and all its inhabitants, from its first, John and Abigail Adams (George and Martha Washington refused to live there) to Bill and Hillary Clinton, now discovering to their sorrow that it might as well be made of glass.

The ``trick'' of the book is that one little girl, named Sara, is yanked out of an official class tour of the White House by its ``ghostly'' inhabitants. The dialogue between Sara and the dead presidents, and between the presidents, is done comic-book style, with dialogue balloons. Sara herself is the only weak link in an otherwise perfectly charming and informative book: ``Uhh -- I wish I could see what you were really like -- um, uh. . . . Mr. President!'' The writing elsewhere is clear and lively, the illustrations witty and full of clever details. One president straightens another's portrait on the wall; a tiny sketch of Monticello hangs above Jefferson's head; the original ``Teddy bear'' sits behind Teddy Roosevelt; Washington's page features a garnish of -- what else? -- fresh cherries.

I learned a great deal in this book: that sheep grazed on the White House lawn in Woodrow Wilson's day, as a matter of principle and inspiration to the boys on the front in the First World War. (``Their wool could be knitted into socks for soldiers.'') That the East Room, on the first floor, is where Teddy Roosevelt's children roller-skated and where the Marquis de Lafayette kept his pet alligator. That Martin Van Buren made the Blue Room blue, and that the library was once a laundry room, and that ``e pluribus unum'' means ``out of many, one.'' Out of this one slim book I learned, well, much.

Harness has provided floor plans for the ground, first and second floors, which I love, but not for the wings or the two basements or third floor, which I don't. She gives us the birth and death dates of all our presidential ``ghosts,'' but little or no information about the women of the White House, and all the relevant nicknames except for, God rest his soul, Richard ``Tricky Dick'' Nixon. Brief biographies of the living presidents, and a full time-line of them all, add enormously to this already enormously useful and evenhanded book.

If you've let past Presidents Days come and go -- if you are old enough to remember when we actually had two days in February, one for Mr. Lincoln (who used the Lincoln Room for an office, not a bedroom), and one for Mr. Washington -- you no longer have an excuse. Every elementary school child deserves this book tomorrow -- or in the weeks after. I can think of several older children who would also be delighted by the book, and I can't think of a single adult who wouldn't be.

Another useful -- and more compendious -- volume about the presidency is ``The Young Oxford Companion to the Presidency of the United States.'' Oversized and hefty, this book with its smattering of small black and white photos, reproductions, and designs, has a definite textbook feel and look, and is geared toward an older, more serious-minded reader than ``Ghosts of the White House.''

Since all entries are alphabetical -- the ordering of ghosts of the White House is, to use the technical term, whimsical -- the book is easy to use. All of the presidents are here by name, along with photos and reproductions of their signatures, faces, and associated artifacts (the saxophone pin used in Clinton's 1992 election campaign, a Teddy Roosevelt Rough Rider doll, etc.), but at least as much space and attention is given to concepts and offices related to the presidency -- tough ones like the Office of Congressional Relations, for instance, the presidential ``honeymoon,'' independent counsel (honeymoon's over), impeachment (honeymoon's really over), relevant amendments to the Constitution, the so-called kitchen cabinet, and, as they say in the circus, much much more.

I'm not sure exactly how one would find all these topics except by browsing, but ``The Young Oxford Companion to the Presidency'' is an infinitely browsable book, complete with four fascinating appendices (election results, presidential terms, ``Important Dates in the Development of the Presidency,'' and presidential historic sites and libraries); a recommended reading list; and a thorough index. It is a rich resource for every young student of the presidency, and an invaluable aid to grown-ups like me who ``never let our schooling interfere with our education,'' as Mark Twain once wrote, and for whom it is never too late to learn a thing or two.