The presidential elections are just around the corner, so teachers may want to check out this list of ten books to help students learn about elections and the election process. Included: Books for students of all ages!
This year's presidential elections offer teachers a unique opportunity to teach youngsters about character, leadership, and the meaning of participatory government. Teachers might use the ten books listed below to help to illuminate those issues. Any of the books would make excellent additions to a school or classroom library; most would be great as "read alouds" or to prompt discussion about the upcoming elections.
Each book is listed and then briefly described. Approximate age ranges are listed too.
- The Ballot Box Battle, by Emily Arnold McCully
Ages 5-8
From Caldecott medalist Emily Arnold McCully comes the inspiring story of Cordelia, a young girl whose relationship with her neighbor, the great suffragist Elizabeth Cady Stanton, inspires her to a remarkable act of courage.
- Class President, by Johanna Hurwitz
Ages 8-12
Julio works to get his good friend Lucas elected class president. Their opponent is Cricket, whose ambition is to be the first female president of the United States. It turns out that Julio shows a natural talent for leadership.
- The Day Gogo Went to Vote, by Elinor Batezat Sisulu
Ages 4-8
In this 1999 Parents' Choice Gold Award winner, young Thembi accompanies her 100-year-old great-grandmother to the polling place in the first all-race elections in South Africa. Infirm and housebound, Gogo is determined to vote and does so with a little help from her community. This story can help younger children understand the importance of the electoral process through its depiction of one woman anxious to vote for the first time in her life.
- Get Real #6: Girl Reporter Rocks Polls, by Linda Ellerbee
Ages 9-12
In this new installment of award-winning journalist Linda Ellerbee's Get Real series, the students at Trumbull Middle School gear up for student government elections. Casey Smith, awesome girl reporter, is on the scene to document the madness. She's got a new video camera and a list of questions. Why do the "popular" kids always get elected? What would it take to make students care about their vote? An election scandal at Trumbull? Get real!
- Granddaddy's Gift, by Margaree King Mitchell
Ages 5-9
It is the American South, pre-civil rights era. Granddaddy Joe, who has only an eighth-grade education, has just passed the Constitution test and registered to vote. Told by his granddaughter, nicknamed "Little Joe," Granddaddy's story is one of courage and conviction. It should give younger readers some insight into another era and what participating in the election process really means.
- The Kid Who Ran for President, by Dan Gutman
Ages 9-12
Twelve-year-old Judson Moon is running for president of the United States! "I must have kissed a zillion babies, said a zillion hellos, shaken a zillion hands," he says. Enough to make him president? Read and find out!
- NEATE to the Rescue! by Deborah Newton Chocolate and Wade Hudson
Ages 10 and up
This is the first in a planned series of fiction books dealing with young people's experiences growing up in an urban setting. NEATE is an acronym for Naimah, Elizabeth, Anthony, Tayesha, and Eddie -- five African American middle school friends. When the city council elections turn into a bitter struggle between Naimah's mother, who is up for reelection, and her opponent, an advocate of re-zoning community districts, which would affect African Americans' voting power, Naimah and her pals get involved in the campaign.
- Presidential Elections: And Other Cool Facts, by Sylvan A. Sobel, illustrated by Jill Wood
Ages 7-12
This brand-new book is informative and fun to read. Fascinating facts abound; the book, includes the birthplaces of all the presidents, the story of the presidential election that a major newspaper got wrong, and lots more. For more information, please see the Education World Books in Education article Elections and Our Government -- In Words a Third Grader Can Understand!
- Rosie Swanson: Fourth-Grade Geek for President, by Barbara Park
Ages 8-11
Sure, she wears geeky-looking glasses, and she tattles on her classmates. With the help of her two best (and only) friends, however, Rosie devises a brilliant campaign to defeat the two most popular kids in her class.
- The Voice of the People, by Betsy C. and Giulio Maestro
Ages 6-up
Betsy and Giulio Maestro have taken another complex subject and made it understandable and fascinating. From the complicated Electoral College to the process of enacting laws, the Maestros breathe life into our system of government.
Lauren P. Gattilia
Education World®
Copyright © 2000 Education World
09/22/2000
Updated 10/21/2004
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