Grace for President

Grace For President. Written by Kelly DiPucchio. Illustrated by LeUyen Pham. Disney-Hyperion Books, revised edition 2012. 40 pages. Publisher recommends for ages 5-9. ISBN: 9781423139997.In her classroom, Grace sees a poster of all the presidents of the United States and realizes not one of them is a woman. Grace announces to her class that she would like to be president of the United States. Her teacher suggests an election at Woodrow Wilson elementary school. No one else in the class wants to be president, which leads Grace to believe that becoming president will be easy. The next day, though, Grace's teacher announces that another class has also nominated a candidate to run in the election.The next step is for each student to pick the name of a state out of a hat. One of the students asks what the number next to the name of the state means. In a couple of succinct paragraphs the teachers explain the electoral college. Adults hearing such an explanation for the first time might say "now wait a minute!" The kids accept it without question.Grace and her rival, Thomas, run their campaigns by making promises and speeches. They make signs and Grace hands out cupcakes. In November, election day arrives and it's a nail biter.The illustrations are fun, and they capture the atmosphere of the election. In one illustration, the boy who eventually decides the election is seen standing as part of the circle around one candidate but craning his neck to hear the other candidate.In the back of the book there's an Author's Note. It presents more information about presidential elections, with a heavy concentration on information about the electoral college.Grace for President gives kids a sophisticated lesson about how a presidential election works. It's particularly strong on the electoral college. Because of this strength, adults reading the book to kids may also gain a clearer picture of the electoral college. But the wonderful thing about the form of Grace For President is that it's fun. It doesn't read like it's trying to teach kids anything.

My daughters ages 9 and 6 have enjoyed reading this book together. It is good to explain the electoral college system and also the important qualities in leaders (serving others). We just ordered Grace goes to Washington and can’t wait to read it!

This is one of our most favorite books in our home library. Got it for my three year old. The story is great and handles the issues of gender, race and democracy in such a easy to understand and poignant way. Explains the concept of electoral college better than anything I have ever read even for adults. Highly, highly recommend. One of my friends said she cried while reading it to her neice, because it was so sweet and touching. I would agree! Suitable for 3-7 year olds.

I first discovered this book at our local library 4 years ago, with the 2008 presidential election. My daughter was almost four, so she was young for this book, but she loved it anyway & responded to the girl (Grace) going for her goal with integrity & making it. We read it repeatedly while we had it out for the weeks before the 2008 election. My daughter is now in 2nd grade, so we got it out about 2 months before the 2012 elections & read it again. Of course she could understand much more, and we could dig into the ideas in the book, what the kids in the book were doing to get their classmates to elect them, and we talked about what she was seeing in our community about what the 2012 election campaigns were doing to get people to vote for them. Very helpful! So she & I decided that her class at school would really like it, so we ordered it from Amazon & gave it as a present to her teacher, who was thrilled with it, both for the election connection & for the strongly positive girl role model. They read it in class & the kids really enjoyed it.

What a cute book! It simplifies a lot of the process but stays true, so kids can understand the electoral college, and there is a longer explainer int he back. Not a lot of detail about the various campaign strategies and platforms, but I guess that would make it quite a long book. The pictures are energetic and wonderful, with lots of details we'll go back to talk about every time we read the book.

I discovered this book while looking for inspiring reads for my young daughter. The message of Grace for President is fantastic on multiple levels. The book promotes: going after your dreams and your heart, not being afraid of what other's think of you, hard work, following-through on your promises and equality for all of our citizens regardless of sex or color. The book manages to promote all of these ideas without being didactic. It is just plain fun!The illustrations are delightful, real and relatable.I read this book to my daughter's kindergarten class and the boys and girls were equally enthusiastic. It was a favorite for everyone!

This book is a great way to explain the election process to kids (and some adults). Very well written story. I've read it to my 6, 8, and 10 year olds. I plan to use this with my 1st grade Girl Scout troop this fall. Highly recommend!

This is a great book. Good story, good dialogue, good pictures, and you learn something. The best part is that the protagonist is a girl. It's really hard to find good kids books with female protagonist. My 18mo loves this book and I think it'll be a favorite for years to come.

El producto cumple con las expectativas. Envio a España rapido. Me encanta el libro que he recibido.

One of my daughters favourite book.

My 10 year old niece is dictating this review.I like this book because it explains how one can vote in America.It shows than not only boys , but even girls can run for President.I liked that Grace made her own candidate flags and spoke with honesty.Every girl can do it!

Als Grace in der Schule erfährt, dass es bisher in den USA noch keine Präsidentin gab, beschließt sie dass sie Präsidentin werden möchte. Erst lachen viele Kinder darüber. Doch dann tritt Grace zur Wahl in der Schule an. Gegen einen beliebten weißen Jungen. Die Wahl ist dem Wahlsystem der USA nachempfunden. Erst scheint es so als wrde der Junge gewinnen, weil alle Jungen ihn wählen, als wäre das Dender nicht die Inhalte entscheidend. Doch dann gewinnt Grace, weil ein Junge sie schlicht besser findet. Nach ihrer erfolgreich Wahl lacht niemand mehr über irer Berufswunsch.Handlungsort: Schule, USA