Running for Office
Not the Usual Candidates
Judy Freeman, Curriculum Connections -- School Library Journal, 10/7/2008
Related TeachingBooks.net resources » » »
It’s finally time for another presidential election. Once again, there will be no children or dogs running for the top job. Happily, there is a welcome abundance of peppy new read-aloud picture books for all ages, featuring some delightfully nontraditional office-seekers.
First off, there’s Kelly DiPucchio’s Grace for President (Hyperion, 2008; Gr. 1-5). Meet a spunky and determined African-American schoolkid, Grace Campbell, who, upon inspecting her teacher’s big poster of the presidents, exclaims in outrage, “Where are the GIRLS?” Mrs. Barrington explains, “The truth is, our country has never had a woman president.” Grace stews at her desk for a bit and then announces to the class, “I’ve been thinking it over, and I’d like to be PRESIDENT.” Embracing what you’ll recognize as an irresistible teachable moment, Mrs. Barrington sets up a school election with Mr. Waller’s class: Grace versus Thomas Cobb, the popular spelling bee champ and captain of the soccer team.
The students pick cards from a hat, each card bearing the name of a state and the number of its electoral votes. Just like in the national election, the candidate amassing 270 or more votes will win. Grace and Thomas come up with slogans, make posters and lists of campaign promises, meet with their constituents, give speeches, and hold rallies. At Woodrow Wilson Elementary’s special Election Day assembly, after every child but one has cast the electoral vote for his or her state, the score stands at 268 to 267. The outcome will depend on Sam, representing Wyoming, the Equality State. Which one will he choose? LeUyen Pham’s enormously appealing kinetic illustrations—shaded ink drawings combined digitally with cut paper and fabric—are packed with an exuberant cast of ethnically diverse kids.
Before finishing the story, stop and have children do a Quick Write and share their responses; ask them to predict Sam’s choice, or to give him advice. Students can design posters, including their self-portraits, slogans, and their platforms or lists of campaign promises. If you decide to hold your own mock election, children can research their own state in books, encyclopedias, or online to locate general information including the capital, nickname, population, area, and other pertinent or surprising facts.
Maybe you didn’t know that Wyoming is known as the Equality State because in 1869 it was the first state to grant suffrage to women. This was thanks in part to one remarkable lady, Esther Morris, who lobbied for it, and then became the first woman in the country to hold public office. Pull in two snappy picture book biographies that recount her groundbreaking story: Connie Nordhielm Wooldridge’s When Esther Morris Headed West: Women, Wyoming, and the Right to Vote (Holiday House, 2001) and Linda Arms White’s I Could Do That: Esther Morris Gets Women the Vote (Farrar, 2005).
What’s it like being Commander in Chief? The dynamic, ponytailed narrator of Lane Smith’s Madam President (Hyperion, 2008; Gr. 1-5) explores and expounds on her many presidential-like duties as she breezes through a school day. There are executive orders to give (“More waffles, please.”), babies to kiss, treaties to negotiate, and a capable cabinet to choose. (Viewers will love examining her “cabinet,” an eclectic, labeled lineup of toys on her bedroom shelves, including Mr. Potato Head as Secretary of Agriculture). At school she uses her special presidential privileges to weigh in on the tuna casserole in the lunchroom (“One word. VETO!”) and tackles a press conference (AKA her classroom Oral Report) with aplomb and obfuscation. (“That’s top secret. No comment.”). Back home, she keeps her head in a crisis, taking on a Disaster Area (her messy room) all by herself. Her tongue-in-cheek hyperbole, combined with theatrical and gleeful mixed-media and collage illustrations, will inspire readers to consider the executive duties they perform each day.
What if a kid ran for president . . . and won? You might recall 12-year-old Judson Moon doing just that in Dan Gutman’s diverting middle-grade novel, The Kid Who Ran for President (Scholastic, 1996; Gr. 4-7). Now meet a new candidate in Kate Feiffer’s President Pennybaker (S & S, 2008; Gr. K-5), with earnest and deadpan old-timey watercolors by the fabulous Diane Goode. After finishing his father’s list of chores, Luke
 |
|
President Pennybaker (Feiffer) |
Finally, enjoy a frenetic reunion and rampage with another top-dog candidate, the loquacious, letter-writing, black-and-white canine terrible, that infamous instigator, Ike LaRue, as he takes on “Law and Order” opponent Hugo Bugwort, in Mark Teague’s LaRue for Mayor: Letters from the Campaign Trail (Scholastic, 2008; Gr. 1-5). Bugwort thinks Snort City is going to the dogs. He’s so right.
Judy Freeman (www.JudyReadsBooks.com) is the author of Books Kids Will Sit Still For 3 (Libraries Unlimited, 2006) and Once Upon a Time: Using Storytelling, Creative Drama, and Reader's Theater with Children in Grades PreK-6 (Libraries Unlimited, 2007).
OTHER TERRIFIC READ-ALOUDS ABOUT PRESIDENTS AND ELECTIONS
Burns, Diane, and Clint Burns. Hail to the Chief!: Jokes about the Presidents. Lerner, 1989.
Christelow, Eileen. VOTE! Clarion, 2003.
Cleveland, Will. Yo, Millard Fillmore! Millbrook, 1997.
Cronin, Doreen. Duck for President. S & S, 2004.
Fritz, Jean. You Want Women to Vote, Lizzie Stanton? Putnam, 1995.
Karr, Kathleen. It Happened in the White House. Hyperion, 2000.
Krosoczka, Jarrett. Max for President. Knopf, 2004.
Krull, Kathleen. Lives of the Presidents: Fame, Shame, and What the Neighbors Thought. Harcourt, 1998.
Krull, Kathleen. A Woman for President: The Story of Victoria Woodhull. Walker, 2004.
McCully, Emily Arnold. The Ballot Box Battle. Knopf, 1996.
O'Connor, Jane. If the Walls Could Talk: Family Life at the White House. S & S, 2004.
Provensen, Alice. The Buck Stops Here: The Presidents of the United States. Harcourt, 1997.
St. George, Judith. So You Want to Be President? Philomel, 2000.
Stier, Catherine. If I Were President. Albert Whitman, 1999.
Wells, Rosemary. Otto Runs for President. Scholastic, 2008.
Winters, Kay. My Teacher for President. Dutton, 2004.
Related TeachingBooks.net resources » » »
