Once you know it, it’s not that complicated.
In a nutshell:
Short synopsis:
Explaining to kids the secrets of the US way to elect a president-
Language I read the book in: English
Did I like it? Yes
For children who: want to know more about the US system of electing the US President.
My thoughts:
Dan Gutman has quite a knack for explaining the election process that until now seemed complicated and inexplicable to me. As a European I don’t know much about it, but at the same time am not willing to read some dry political essay about how that system works. This book came in handy and it was a useful guide.
It works with questions and answers; questions that children would ask, and answers that are simple enough for them to understand, but still not simplifying too much.
Dan Gutman goes a bit back into the history here and there and throws in little tidbits of information and trivia, like who started campaigning, who won the electoral vote even though they lost the popular vote etc. Quite interesting!
I liked that he also tried to pass along the message to his readers how important it is to vote and how you should go about it, i.e. how to make informed decisions and not just believe what TV ads tell them.
All in all I think this is a very helpful book for children in the US to understand a bit more about how presidential elections work. The other target group would be people like me, non-US adults who want to know a bit about this topic but are unwilling to read tons of detailed administrative papers. That little, basic knowledge, prepared for children, was just the right thing for me.
Location:
Map from wikipedia.org
Movie tip
All the President’s Men (1976)
Product info and buy link :
| Title | Election! |
| Author | Dan Gutman |
| Publisher | Open Road Media |
| ISBN | n/a |
| I got this book from | Netgalley |
| Buy link | Buy Election! at Open Road Media (out August 21) |
Have you read this book? What did you think of it? I would love to hear other opinions.
I have often wondered about how the American election system works. A two party system in which certain states have more delegates than others, making their votes more indispensable than others… it is so different from what I know. A book like Election! is accessible for me to reach for it. Thanks for sharing your review!
Chinoiseries’s last post ..Book review: Doña Nicanora’s Hat Shop – Kirstan Hawkins
Like you I often wondered how this system works and now I know a bit more. The way Dan Gutman explains it, especially with the varying number of electors for each state, it makes kind of sense, but there would be ways to improve it, I am sure.
Yes, it is completely different from what I know as well, but this is just one of these things where (Continental) European and American views simply clash a bit.
It sounds like a helpful book for non-US people interested on American politics. I will certainly keep an eye on this one.
Elena’s last post ..Review: When Nights were Cold
Definitely, Elena. And it is a quick read, too.