It’s Election year and kids have questions about our complex government system. How do you teach them? Where do you start? How do you make it fun?
Between the ages of 8 and 10, children’s minds are still in a stage of wonder and imagination. Why not take advantage of this accessibility and inspire a lifelong interest in politics and government?
To the rescue are Cheryl and Peter Barnes who launch three new books this month, Woodrow, the White House Mouse; House Mouse, Senate Mouse; and Marshall, the Courthouse Mouse—just in time for the new school year!
Following Woodrow for President: A Tail of Voting (Barnes; May 2012), the story of Woodrow G. Washingtail continues in Woodrow, the White House Mouse. Now elected president mouse, Woodrow is the “Big Cheese”—his decisions now affect the entire mouse nation.
In House Mouse, Senate Mouse, mouse students are assigned the task of writing to Congress to propose the establishment of a national cheese. From the “Squeaker of the House” to the Senate “Mouse-jority” Leader, this book teaches children how our legislative system works and how laws are made.
The duties of the judicial branch are described with the help of Chief Justice Marshall J. Mouse and the Mouse Supreme Court in Marshall, the Courthouse Mouse. As a mouse law is debated, children get a fresh look at the legislative process while learning the values of hard work and compromise.
About the author/illustrator: Peter is a journalist and broadcaster who reports on public policy issues in Washington, D.C. Cheryl is an illustrator with a background in architecture. They live in Alexandria, Virginia, have two grown daughters, and are very proud grandparents of Tristan James Joyce.
And for those of you who would like to add these three books to your home library or school year, you can enter below to win a copy of each!
How do you enter to win? {use this Rafflecopter widget to enter. It’s easy!}
I used the layout of the textbooks that I have.
tarter95 at hotmail dot com
We have been reading some books from the library about the USA and government to our daughter. She’s only 4, so we haven’t gotten too deep into that subject yet.
We’ve checked out some books from our library and our homeschool curriculum has a little bit about government that we’ve been working on.
We read textbooks and library books about government. My older son is very interested in presidential history.