Kids’ Civics Books: ‘Why Are Elections Important?’

Tuesday is Election Day. Schools will be closed, and young children will be asking “Why?” It’s a teachable moment, the perfect doorway to a civics lesson.

Weekly Reader has published an easy-to-understand book called “Why are Elections Important?” It’s leveled for Grade 2 and up and has an online quiz. It’s available at Big Universe, along with additional books with civics lessons for kids. (Grownups might benefit from a little brushup on social studies, too.) 

While we adults may be jaded with the grimy side of politics and our country’s transgressions, our children are still privileged to live in a country where citizens have some say. They live in a country with an abundance of freedom and economic resources well above 95 percent of the rest of the world’s population.

We do not live amid the killing fields of the Khmer Rouge regime or the Idi Amin dictatorship. Our children are not prohibited from an education just because they are born the wrong gender or from the wrong caste. In this country we are not prevented from voting because our families have no money or power in a community.

Despite the cheesy campaign slogans and overabundance of rhetoric, we still get to elect our leadership in the United States, and we get to vote out officials who don’t do their jobs well. We get to help make decisions about all sorts of issues and laws.

Voting gives people a voice – just like the gift of literacy. It’s a right, a privilege…and yes, a blessing. 

• “Why Are Elections Important?” (Grade 2)
• “How Do We Elect Our Leaders?” (Grade 5 and up)
• “Who Leads Our Country?” (Grade 2)
• “What Are Your Basic Rights?” (Grade 4)
• “What Are Citizens’ Basic Rights?” (Grade 4)
• “What is a Constitution?” (Grade 4)
• “What Are The Parts of Government?” (Grade 4-6)
• “Why Do We Have Laws?” (Grade 2)

One Comment

• Kids’ Lincoln Books Abound 150 Years After Election | Big Universe Learning - Blog says:

  November 2, 2010 at 9:56 pm

  [...] Read “Kids’ Civics Books: ‘Why are Elections Important?” which features a list of leveled books about voting, elections and Americans’ basic [...]