A Big Cheese for the White House: The True Tale of a Tremendous Cheddar

Prior to reading A Big Cheese for the White House: The True Tale of a Tremendous Cheddar, I had never heard about the big cheese given to the White House by the citizens of Chesire, Massachusetts. Written by Candace Fleming and illustrated by S.D. Schindler in 1999, this story explores how one community comes together to provide the President Jefferson with their prized cheese upon hearing that the White House was serving Norton cheese.  Together the citizens of Chesire form a cheese that weights 1,235 pounds, stands four feet high, and was made from nine hundred and thirty-four cows.  Much the the dismay at first of Phineas, Elder John proves that the cheese can be made and transported to the White House.


As a historical text, this story provides a plethora of information regarding a small New England town's effect on the White House.  This story is extremely marketable to young readers as it uses humorous elements to to essentially describe events circling a huge historical moment in history.  At the end of the story, a page is dedicated to detailing the actual historical elements surrounding the cheese curd for readers to allow for readers to have a more descriptive analysis aside from the humorous aspects apparent in the story.