Thomas Jefferson: Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Everything

Third president and Declaration of Independence scribe Thomas Jefferson is paid half-hearted tribute in this adaptation of the 2014 book by author and illustrator Maira Kalman. Sporting oft-mentioned red hair and freckles, the young Jefferson loved books, shrews, shoes, bees, cheese, and how to say “please” in different languages. Monticello—Jefferson's home—is here called a “museum of his mind,” leading into random musings on the author's part (“nightmares…ugh, why do we have them?”). The serious and the trivial are intermixed as viewers are told about Jefferson's love of veggies, his violin practice, the loss of his wife Patsy and children, the Louisiana Purchase…and William Clark's (of Lewis and Clark fame) red hair. Older viewers would likely cringe over a depiction of Jefferson (a slave-owner) winding grandfather clocks in his kitchen while the narrator notes that “he probably said a few kind words to the cooks.” While Jefferson accomplished much in his life (including starting the Library of Congress), this is a rather uneven biographical profile. Optional. Aud: E, P. (J. Williams-Wood)