Today on Election Day

May 1, 2012
A proudly buoyant tour of Election Day in the U.S.A. This spry salute to the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November generates a significant amount of positive energy. Only through active engagement in the process--informing yourself, going to the polling station--will you be tapping into the possibilities of the system. Everything else is just so much hot air. Stier neither belabors nor stints on the text. There is a decent amount of information to be imparted, if only to acquaint readers with political parties, campaigns, Congress, the history of the vote, Constitutional amendments, debates and voting, and it is done in an easy, if modestly didactic voice. It has the genuine ring of smart young students giving the oral presentation of their civics projects, sweet and serious. Stier situates the activity around the children's school, and Leonard makes the most of the setting, giving it the warm, watercolor cast of a small town, yet modern in its computer voting machines. And all ages are involved, young to old, with the finger squarely placed on the importance of 18-year-olds assuming this mantle of importance. Future voters of the world, unite. The vote, Stier makes clear, is a great gift we have given ourselves. (Informational picture book. 6-9)

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September 1, 2012

Gr 2-4-This title shows children participating in the electoral process as "future voters" while their school is made into a polling location and their relatives participate as both new and veteran voters. Expressive watercolor sketches depicting cheerful students give the book flair. The text is readable and upbeat. Several students narrate, offering a brief history of voting rights, discussing what it means to be class president, and sharing stories about relatives who vote or run for office. The alternating narrators and the inclusion of a plethora of events make the text occasionally hard to follow. It is also printed in a small font size. Ultimately, though, this is a welcome purchase, especially in an election year.-Jenna Boles, Washington-Centerville Public Library, Hunterville, OH

Copyright 2012 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

July 1, 2012
Grades 2-4 In this informative picture book, an enthusiastic multiethnic class of future voters walks through basic details about presidential Election Day activities. Smiling adults converge on the school to cast their ballots while each class member narrates a different part of the process. Readers will learn what makes a candidate, how they belong to different political parties, how they campaign, and how voters can get information about them. Along the way, readers will discover that voting was once the privilege of a few and is now the right of most U.S. citizens. The story line, such as it is, reaches a climax when the aunt of one of the students is elected to city council. The text is upbeat, straightforward, and brief. Full-page muted watercolor illustrations show the cast of cheerful characters happily going about their various activities. This would work well used in conjunction with Stier's previous two books about the presidency: If I Were President (1999) and If I Ran for President (2007).(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.)