Teaching 9th grade American history, I really enjoyed teaching kids about how our government works: the three branches of government and their roles mainly. But sometimes they had a hard time relating to or understanding what exactly each role does. Understandable. Government is a complex issue. Just recently I found a great book to help school kids understand a little better the role of the President.
Madam President by Lane Smith is a funny, clear-cut look at the life of the president. But the president in the book is a young girl who simply exercises her authority in her own life
The book reads well, the illustrations add an explanatory element (that opens up discussion), and it's funny. Check out the "list" of all of her cabinets -- they correspond with the toys available to fill the position.
My 3-year old enjoyed it as a story and I found myself wishing she were school-age and learning about this stuff so that we could talk about it more, not just read it.
But that will come. And then it will be back to the library to check this out again!
