We have two special lists to help teachers and students at the beginning of the school year. Children’s librarian Susan Dove Lempke’s list focuses on those opening jitters of August and September, while children’s bookstore manager David L. Richardson looks a little further in the year to November and the subject of elections.
Back-to-school means back to teachable moments. And what more teachable moment will there be than a historic election? Here are some suggestions to help you and your children make the most of the political process as you start the new school year.
Vote! by Eileen Christelow (Clarion, 2008, $4.99 paperback, ages 6 and up). Simple and clearly written, Christlelow uses the election of a town mayor to take readers through the entire electoral process. Perfect for introducing children to the world of politics.
KidChat American Adventure: 201 Questions to Make You Think, Talk, and Giggle about Our Nation’s History by Bret Nicholaus and Paul Lowrie (Roaring Brook, 2008, $7.99 paperback, ages 10 and up). Boxers or briefs? Not likely. KidChat asks questions that challenge kids to think and talk about what makes our nation great. Excellent choice for classroom debate questions.
Duck for President by Doreen Cronin; illustrated by Betsy Lewin (Atheneum, 2008, $16.99 paperback, ages 6 and up). This Caldecott classic (rereleased with an updated cover) takes a comical look at the things politicians do to get elected. Lots of references to current history (including illustrations imitating famous photographs) make the book informative, timely, and entertaining.
See How They Run: Campaign Dreams, Election Schemes, and the Race to the White House by Susan E. Goodman; illustrated by Elwood H. Smith (Bloombury, 2008, $9.95 paperback, ages 9 and up). Goodman takes on all aspects of the election process. This revealing and often humorous (see Smith’s illustrations) book analyzes everything from the seeds of democracy to the Electoral College.
LaRue for Mayor: Letters From the Campaign Trail by Mark Teague (Blue Sky, 2008, $16.99 ages 5 and up). A lighter look at the political process. When Ike LaRue finds his rights being infringed upon, he decides to join the race for mayor to protect them. What better way to show kids they can make a difference.
Vote by Philip Steele (DK Eyewitness Books, 2008, $19.99, ages 11 and up). A great reference book covering not only presidential elections, but also the election processes from around the world and across the ages. Ideal for comparisons and for understanding how the procedures came to be.
So You Want to Be President? by Judith St. George; illustrated by David Small (Philomel, 2004, $17.99, ages 8 and up). This updated version includes George W. Bush, some new illustrations, and all the genius that made the original a Caldecott favorite.
Independent Dames: What You Never Knew About the Women and Girls of the American Revolution by Laurie Halse Anderson, illustrated by Matt Faulkner (Simon & Schuster, 2008, $16.99, ages 8 and up). Not so much an election book as a reminder that women have played a role in the making of this country, including politics, since the time of the American Revolution. A great book for comparing then and now.
David L. Richardson, a former junior high school language arts teacher, is a freelance writer based in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA.
Though many children eagerly look forward to beginning school, others find it more worrisome. Here are a few books that may offer reassurance and often, a good laugh, too.
I Am Not Going to School Today! by Robie H. Harris (McElderry, 2003, $16.96, ages 3—5). A little boy announces that because he won’t know where anything is on the first day of school, he isn’t going to go until the second day. As Jan Ormerod’s sensitive watercolor and pencil illustrations show, he is only one of a group of slightly worried children who gradually relax as the day goes on.
Imagine Harry by Kate Klise; illustrated by M. Sarah Klise (Harcourt, 2007, $16.00, ages 4—6). The boy in Harris’s book goes to school with a stuffed animal, but no one at Little Rabbit’s school can see who accompanies him, because Harry is invisible. Though initially Little Rabbit holds back to take care of Harry, he is surprised eventually to realize that he has new friends and no longer sees Harry. The Klise sisters team up successfully again to tenderly depict childhood through Kate’s words and Sarah’s soft acrylic paintings.
It’s Time for School With Tallulah by Nancy Wolff (Holt, 2007, $16.95, ages 4—6). Tallulah the cat works to make her new student, Nigel the penguin, feel comfortable and safe. Although supposedly Tallulah is playing school with her friends and her dog, children will get a good preview of how a day unfolds in kindergarten. A light-hearted look at beginning school.
Off to Kindergarten by Tony Johnston (Cartwheel/Scholastic, 2007, $7.99, ages 4—6). In this rhyming text a little boy describes all of the things he plans to bring to school, from a sandbox to a chair for his stuffed bear. Children will be reassured by his happy acceptance of his mother’s word that the teacher will have everything he needs. Melissa Sweet’s bright, jaunty paintings keep the tone upbeat.
Hamsters, Shells, and Spelling Bees: School Poems edited by Lee Bennett Hopkins (HarperCollins, 2008, $16.99, ages 5—8). In another of poet Hopkins’s I Can Read poetry anthologies, 20 poems are artfully arranged to take new readers through a school day. Excellent poets such as Jane Yolen, Alice Schertle, and Rebecca Kai Dotlich are featured, along with exuberant pictures by Sachiko Yoshikawa.
Mildred and Sam Go to School by Sharleen Collicott (HarperCollins, 2008, $16.99, ages 4—6). In another I Can Read book, two mice parents, Mildred and Sam, send their many children to school together, peeking in the windows at them. The little mice learn a lot, especially about nature and science, and conclude that school doesn’t seem so far from home, compared with Saturn. This very easy-to-read book’s gentle humor is echoed by the softly colored illustrations.
My Kindergarten by Rosemary Wells (Hyperion, 2004, $9.99 paperback, ages 4—6). Wells, who writes many books to help children work on the tasks they will need at school and to help them feel comfortable with the classroom, takes one of her earlier characters, Emily, and shows her throughout the school year with her classmates. Month by month, tenderness, empathy, and the joys of learning are modeled on every page through words and Wells’ endearing animal characters.
Ramona the Pest by Beverly Cleary (HarperCollins, 1968, $5.99 paperback, ages 6—8). Older children will love looking back on their kindergarten days through the eyes of Cleary’s classic character, Ramona. This funny chapter book takes the imaginative and irrepressible character through a variety of misunderstandings as she learns how things work in school, and as she learns to curb impulses such as reaching out to tug a classmate’s "boing-boing" curls.
Susan Dove Lempke is head of the Children’s Department at the Niles Public Library District in Illinois and a reviewer for The Horn Book Magazine.
Children's book reviewers David L. Richardson and Susan Dove Lempke offer book picks for fall. (August 2008). Reading Today, 26(1), 14.
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