Government

Picture Books:

Adler, David A. and John Wallner. A Picture Book of Abraham Lincoln. Holiday House,   NY. 1990.

This picture book is also a biography about Abraham Lincoln's life. The book begins with Abraham as boy, follows him around the country as he tries to become the president, and ends with his assassination.

Barnes, Peter W., Cheryl S. Barnes, & Betty Shepard. House Mouse, Senate Mouse. Vacation Spot Publishing, NY, 1996.

A book about what the Congress does when Miss Tuftmore's second grade class writes them with the idea to declare a national cheese. So the Squeaker of the House and the Senate Mouse-jority leader work together to make a decision. This is a good book for students to read about making decisions and working together.

Berlin, Iving. God Bless America. HarperCollins, NY. 2002.

This book is about a family of bears that experience America. The book is an illustrated version of the song, God Bless America.

Borden, Louise. America Is... Margaret K. McElderry, New York. 2002.

A picture book about America. The book covers everything about our country from the flag's symbolism to the farming country.  Borden lets the reader know of everything that America is.


Catrow, David. We The Kids: The Preamble to the Constitution of the United States. Dial Books for Young Readers, NY. 2002.

This book is the Preamble to the United States Constitution in picture form. Catrow takes a subject students may not understand, into an illustrated story. The book includes a glossary in the beginning of the book that states what each line of the Preamble means.

Cheney, Lynne. America: A Patriotic Primer. Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing, NY. 2002.

This book is an alphabetic history of America. It has very elaborate pictures of the words for each letter. The words are very inspirational, and the pictures help display their message.

Fleming, Candace. A Big Cheese for the White House: The True Tale of a Tremendous Cheddar. DK Publishing, Inc., NY. 1999.

A story about a small town, called Chesire, Massachusetts. The townspeople are determined to make a better cheddar than the people of Norton, Connecticut, since the Norton cheddar was being served at the White House. The people of Chesire then set out to make a huge piece of cheddar and then bring it to the White House for New Year's Day. The story goes through all the events that lead up to bringing the President a piece of cheddar weighing 1235 pounds.

 Herman, John. Red, White, and Blue: The Story of the American Flag. Grosset and Dunlap, NY. 1998.

An easy-to-read story of our country's first symbol, the flag. Lets early readers understand the importance of the United States Flag.

Lewison, Wendy Cheyette. F is for Flag. Grosset and Dunlap, NY. 2002.

A story about what the flag means to Americans everywhere. For people in our country, it can mean a symbol of unity, a sign of welcome, and reminds us that we are all a family.


Scillian, Devin. A is for America. Sleeping Bear Press, MI. 2001.

An alphabet book about what makes up America, combined with illustrations. The sidebars on each spread offer several explanatory notes that could help early readers.

Spier, Peter. The Star-Spangled Banner. Yearling Books, NY. 1992.

A picture book of the words to the Star-Spangled Banner.  The book's illustrations bring the whole song together and really make you feel like you were there when Francis Scott Key wrote the song.

 St. George, Judith. So You Want to Be President? Philomel Books, NY. 2000.

A story about all of the past Presidents and how they came to be the President. Gives readers insight into all the Presidents, who was a good dancer and who wasn't, who was a good President and who shouldn't have been in office. The pictures make the Presidents seem like             regular people that young students can relate to. It is a good book to use with a government unit because it lets students know more about the Presidents, that you normally wouldn't read in a research book.

 Stier, Catherine. If I Were President. Albert Whitman and Company, IL. 1999.

A story about what one girl would do if she were President. Goes through all the Presidential events that would be taking place, and then is explained within the text. The author then adds ideas kids would have about what they would do if they were the President, like eating two desserts every night and throwing out the first pitch of the baseball season.

Walner, Alexandra. Betsy Ross. Holiday House, NY. 1998.

A kid-friendly book about the life of Betsy Ross. It is written for younger children to enjoy  and has very interesting illustrations to go along with the facts. The story invites readers into the life of Betsy Ross and explains how she thought up using a five-pointed star instead of a six-pointed star, like General Washington wanted to use.

Biographies:

Cook, Donald. Abe Lincoln's Hat. Random House, NY. 1994. (Step into Reading Book)

A biography about our sixteenth President, Abraham Lincoln. It is written at a early elementary reading level and it does not end with President Lincoln being assassinated.  It is light hearted, but still gets across all of Abraham Lincoln's accomplishments.

 Sullivan, George. Mr. President: A Book of US Presidents. Scholastic, Inc., NY. 2001.

A collective biography of all of our 43 Presidents. It includes three to four page biographies about each President and illustration about their lives.

Novels:

Gutman, Dan. The Kid Who Ran for President. Scholastic, Inc., NY. 1996

A story about a twelve-year-old named Judson Moon. He is the newest and youngest Presidential candidate. His friend, and campaign manager, Lane gives Judson the idea, and he goes through with it because it sounds fun. Add in the fact that his running mate is an elderly African-American lady who used to be his babysitter. His campaign is going better than anyone ever thought, but Judson realizes he is in over his head. He continues to speak on national TV about his issues he knows nothing about. The voters love him and vote for him, but he decides to resign as President because it is too much for a twelve-year-old.

Gutman, Dan. The Kid Who Became President. Apple, NY. 1999.

Sequel to The Kid Who Ran for President. This time around, Judson reconsidered his Presidency, and is the President. Now as President, he is dodging assassination attempts and facing off against a dictator from South America. The dictator and Judson play a game called World War IV and Judson has to win to make the dictator leave him alone.

Folk Tales:

Demi. One Grain of Rice. Scholastic Press, NY. 1997.

Story about a girl named Rani who saves her community by out-smarting the local raja, who  is keeping the area's rice to himself. Rani does the raja a favor, and in return she got to choose her reward. She and her community thought about it, and she thought that the best     reward would be one grain of rice, doubled everyday for thirty days. In the end, she receives more than a million grains of rice and saves her community. She also teaches the raja a lesson about what it means to fair and wise, which is what the raja claims to be.

Informational Books:

Giesecke, Ernestine. Kids' Guide: State Government. Heinemann Library, IL. 2000.

An informational account of what happens in the state government. Includes a glossary of words associated with government, how the state governor is elected, to jobs of the state government. Goes further than most books about talking about what happens throughout the     entire state government. Includes many pictures so students can follow along.

Sobel, Syl. The U.S. Constitution and You. Barron's Educational Series, Inc., NY. 2001

An informational book about the United States Constitution and what it means to students. It includes a glossary, more books to research for more information, and the three branches of government to name a few.

Professional Resources:

We Live Together. Macmillan/McGraw-Hill, Inc., NY. 2002

A second grade Social Studies book. The fifth unit in the book is called "Our Government," and in it there is a list of books to use with the unit. Also in the unit, are ways to use the books in the Social Studies lessons that are taught.

Government Lesson Plans

A website with lessons on government for all ages. Here are some government lessons for K-2 students.