Fair / 70° F
Kids not too young to learn politics [UPDATED]
Published 9:10am Thursday, October 25, 2012 Updated 11:12am Thursday, October 25, 2012Halloween is right around the corner so ‘tis the season for ghosts, goblins, and jack-o-lanterns. But Election Day is quickly approaching and that may be just as scary for some people.
With the abundance of political ads on TV and the radio, yard signs, debates, and talk around the dinner table, kids may be wondering just what this election stuff is all about.
Books can be an accessible and easier-to-understand way to help with election education (I know I could use a refresher).
So while your children may be too young to vote, they’re never too young to learn about our country’s political process.
Below is a brief list of books, both fiction and non-fiction, written for children and available in our library system.
Non-Fiction for older children
• Election Day by Heather C. Hudak. Learn the history, process, tradition, and importance of Election Day in our country.
• The Election Book: The People Pick a President by Carolyn Jackson. Just in time for the 2012 election, Scholastic offers a book on just what it takes to be president.
• What is a City Council? by Nancy Harris. Explores the role of a city council, how local laws are made, various council committees, and how to run for city council.
• Mayor by Jacqueline Laks Gorman. Describes the roles of mayors and other government officials. Includes biographies on famous mayors.
Picture books
for younger children
• Amelia Bedelia’s First Vote, by Herman Parish. Find out what happens when students get to vote on the school rules.
• LaRue for Mayor: Letters from the Campaign Trail. by Mark Teague. Ike the dog is back for another adventure and this time he’s running for mayor of Snort City!
• Grace for President by Kelly DiPucchio. After she discovers that there has never been a female president, Grace decides to run for president of her class at school.
• Duck for President by Doreen Cronin. Duck doesn’t want to work for Farmer Brown anymore so he sets his sights on a bigger job.
There are many other great titles available to order too, just ask a librarian. I leave you with an inspiring quote from our current leader and hope that whatever your political persuasion may be, you agree with President Obama about the importance of libraries in young people’s lives.
“At the moment that we persuade a child, any child, to cross that threshold, that magic threshold into a library, we change their lives forever, for the better. It’s an enormous force for good.”
Arielle Krohn is the Youth Librarian for the Fergus Falls Public Library
