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What's the Big Deal About Elections
From ballots to bonfires, from suffrage to stumping, this kid-friendly picture book filled with fun facts and historical trivia shows why voting is so important and why America gets to call its government a body of, by, and for the people.
Did you know that Election Day is on Tuesday because that was the best day for farmers to vote? Or that George Washington was our only elected president who ran unopposed? Or that Native Americans were only given the right to vote in 1924? It's all true!
We hear a lot about political campaigns on the news, but there's tons to know about elections beyond the politics of each race. Who gets to vote? Who gets to run? What do elected officials do once they're in office--and what do candidates do if they lose? Why do people fight so hard for the right to vote? In this kid-friendly, fact-filled book, young readers will find out how Americans choose their leaders, local and federal, and why elections should matter to them, even if they can't vote (yet)!
Praise for What's the Big Deal About Elections :
"An informative introduction to the importance of voting, and a great choice for group reading choice before election season." -- School Library Journal
"An empowering choice." -- Kirkus Reviews
"This latest entry into the What's the Big Deal about . . . series is an upbeat discussion starter." -- Booklist
Did you know that Election Day is on Tuesday because that was the best day for farmers to vote? Or that George Washington was our only elected president who ran unopposed? Or that Native Americans were only given the right to vote in 1924? It's all true!
We hear a lot about political campaigns on the news, but there's tons to know about elections beyond the politics of each race. Who gets to vote? Who gets to run? What do elected officials do once they're in office--and what do candidates do if they lose? Why do people fight so hard for the right to vote? In this kid-friendly, fact-filled book, young readers will find out how Americans choose their leaders, local and federal, and why elections should matter to them, even if they can't vote (yet)!
Praise for What's the Big Deal About Elections :
"An informative introduction to the importance of voting, and a great choice for group reading choice before election season." -- School Library Journal
"An empowering choice." -- Kirkus Reviews
"This latest entry into the What's the Big Deal about . . . series is an upbeat discussion starter." -- Booklist
32 pages, Hardcover
Published August 28, 2018
4 people are currently reading
92 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
November 4, 2018
Once your kiddos have mastered the basics of democracy, elections and voting, they might get a kick out of this book, and you might find it helpful for broadening your civics discussions. This is a book that is filled with information - some trivial, some important, all interesting - about the history of elections and voting. It asks a series of questions like What are elections? Who Votes? Why does government matter? These questions and more are all answered on double page spreads, with wonderfully detailed, often amusing illustrations, plus small text boxes with lots of trivia on each topic. Anecdotes about some often (questionable) historical political figures add to the fun, while helping young readers understand how they can make a difference. I found the section on How do we elect these leaders? especially helpful for understanding why we have a popular vote and an electoral college, and why each vote matters. This has always been the most difficult part of explaining government to kids, but it is nicely explained here and Faulkner's illustration really brought it all together. My kids were very interested in the answers to the "But I'm a Kid, I Can't Vote. Why Does Any of This Matter for Me? Not only did they learn some history, but they also learned that they can still make change through their actions. While Shamir included the children's protests during the Civil Rights Movement, we talked about the brave kids who survived the shooting at Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida and became gun sense activists. Shamir includes a Timeline of voting in this country and an helpful Author's Note. This is a definite must for anyone interested in studying democracy.
September 15, 2025
This is a nice starting point. The tone is upbeat/ somewhat idealistic, the illustrations are colorful, and there are entertaining tidbits of information strewn throughout.
Sadly, understanding of how our system of government is supposed to work seems to be diminishing over time. So I like the range of basic questions raised in the headings, e.g., “Why do we vote?” “Why does government matter?”How do we know who to choose in an election?” And the oddly necessary “What happens after elections?” The text was copyrighted in 2020, and the answer has a nostalgic flavor: “…the peaceful transfer of power, …strange as it sounds, it’s a really big deal.” Kids need to be taught, but it seems we all need to be reminded.
Sadly, understanding of how our system of government is supposed to work seems to be diminishing over time. So I like the range of basic questions raised in the headings, e.g., “Why do we vote?” “Why does government matter?”How do we know who to choose in an election?” And the oddly necessary “What happens after elections?” The text was copyrighted in 2020, and the answer has a nostalgic flavor: “…the peaceful transfer of power, …strange as it sounds, it’s a really big deal.” Kids need to be taught, but it seems we all need to be reminded.
November 3, 2018
This book for older children begins by noting that almost everyone in the U.S. can vote once they turn eighteen, and asking, “Why does that matter? What’s the big deal about elections anyway?”
The main text is mostly in a question and answer format, with small text boxes on each page supplementing the information given in the main portion of the page. For example, one page asks “Why does government matter?” The book describes some of the government’s functions, such as building roads, schools, and parks, and keeping water and food safe. A text box talks about garbage collection, and what life was like in cities before departments of sanitation were established. In New York, for instance, “the city was so stinky that travelers could smell it from six miles away!”
In the section, “”Who votes?” A rosy picture is painted of the current status of voting rights. Voter suppression is mentioned only as a thing of the past.
There is no mention whatsoever of the following important and increasingly salient issues:
Racial and partisan gerrymandering - the act of politicians manipulating the redrawing of legislative district lines in order to help their friends and hurt their enemies - has been an ongoing problem in the country. (In fact, the word was coined by a writer in the Boston Gazette in 1812 in reaction to a redrawing of Massachusetts state senate election districts under Governor Elbridge Gerry.)
Voter ID laws, part of a strategy to roll back decades of progress on voting rights, are depriving many Americans of the right to vote. [11% of U.S. citizens – or more than 21 million Americans – do not have government-issued photo identification. Obtaining ID Costs Money. Even if ID is offered for free, voters must incur numerous costs (such as paying for birth certificates) to apply for a government-issued ID.]
Voter purges, the often-flawed process of cleaning up voter rolls by deleting names from registration lists, and frequently used by Republicans, receive no mention. When done incorrectly, purges disenfranchise legitimate voters (often when it is too close to an election to rectify the mistake), causing confusion and delay at the polls.
Class barriers are not insignificant. In 2012, for example, more than 80 percent of Americans with an annual income over $150,000 turned out to vote, compared with less than half of people earning under $20,000. As the New York Times explains:
“They aren’t negligent: People who are paid hourly or juggle multiple jobs can’t afford to miss work and stand in long lines to vote. And this group includes a large number of racial minorities — precisely the people that the civil rights movement was undertaken to help.”
Closing polling places is another technique used to suppress voting by minorities, who tend to vote for the Democratic party. On Election Day in 2016, there were 868 fewer polling places in states with a long history of voting discrimination, like Arizona, Texas, and North Carolina. These changes impacted hundreds of thousands of mostly would-be-Democratic voters, who did not have either the time off of work or transportation to enable them to get to open polls.
As The Washington Post writes, "voter suppression is a crucial story in America.”
The book also explains what happens in Washington, D.C. (with the author resisting the temptation to say “nothing”) and offers only an inadequate explanation of the thorny Electoral College problem. Just saying it is “baffling” seems less than satisfactory for such an important part of the voting system. She also does not explain the ways in which it has become very non-representational. Certainly many children will be aware that Hillary Clinton won the popular vote for president in 2016 by more than 2 million votes, but lost the vote in the Electoral College to Donald Trump by 306 to 232, and therefore he won the presidency. That seems like a very important situation to clarify.
As US News and World Report explains:
"If the president were elected by popular vote, every voter's ballot would have been given equal weight, or influence, over the outcome, and Hillary Clinton would have won. But, as evidenced by Donald Trump's victory, the Electoral College gives different weights to votes cast in different states.”
For example, individual votes from Wyoming carry 3.6 times more influence, or weight, than those from California. California, as the Washington Post observes, is home to 12 percent of Americans, but holds only 10 percent of electoral votes. A similar pattern repeats in the country’s largest states.
Shouldn’t kids understand how this works? Would this not be a great subject for discussion, as it would stimulate thinking about fairness, historical precedents, and possible solutions?
The author also avers that any citizen can run for office, but elides over the role affluence plays in that determination. She states, “Elections are also about making sure the country is safe, prosperous, and fair well into the future.” That’s a bit of a misstatement, especially to the extent that winning elections is greatly influenced both by outright donations and by “dark money” which in turn ensures that those elected will work to perpetuate the income inequality that helped them gain power. (See, for example, our review of the expose Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right by Jane Mayer.)
Thus billionaires help elect officials who will push the agendas of the rich, and influence legislation to benefit their interests. After this last election, they were rewarded by a huge tax cut that benefitted the wealthy to the detriment of the poor and middle class. One wealthy donor, for example, gave $30 million to help elect Republicans in the 2016 election. He reaped a nearly $700 million windfall from the new tax law they then passed. These rich donors ponied up again for the 2018 election.
To make matters worse, Republican leaders of Congress are now calling for cuts to social security, medicare, and medicaid (which mostly benefit those with less money) to help offset the tax cuts for the rich. The relationship between money and Congress and the Presidency is so critical and so tied to policy initiatives, or the lack thereof, (consider, for example, the influence of a major lobbyist, the National Rifle Association), that it is unconscionable not to include any information about the interrelationship, or its moral considerations.
What about the effects of social media and foreign interference? Surely kids, many of whom have their own phones, should be apprised of the basics of evaluating information as well as the basics of how things work in theory.
The back matter includes a timeline that mostly highlights advances in the history of suffrage, and a list of sources for further reading.
Goauche Illustrations by Matt Faulkner are done in an appealing and colorful comic book style.
Evaluation: I am opposed to telling kids - especially older kids - fairy tales, especially if it prevents the development of their compassion, their ability to analyze and question authority, and their willingness to work for a better world. The age range for whom this book is intended, 7 and up, is surely able to comprehend more complexity and nuance than is provided here.
Nevertheless, the book does a good job in establishing a foundation for further exploration. And it would make an excellent guide for teachers who want to demonstrate the importance of ascertaining what is not included in works of non-fiction, and how that affects perceptions of reality.
The main text is mostly in a question and answer format, with small text boxes on each page supplementing the information given in the main portion of the page. For example, one page asks “Why does government matter?” The book describes some of the government’s functions, such as building roads, schools, and parks, and keeping water and food safe. A text box talks about garbage collection, and what life was like in cities before departments of sanitation were established. In New York, for instance, “the city was so stinky that travelers could smell it from six miles away!”
In the section, “”Who votes?” A rosy picture is painted of the current status of voting rights. Voter suppression is mentioned only as a thing of the past.
There is no mention whatsoever of the following important and increasingly salient issues:
Racial and partisan gerrymandering - the act of politicians manipulating the redrawing of legislative district lines in order to help their friends and hurt their enemies - has been an ongoing problem in the country. (In fact, the word was coined by a writer in the Boston Gazette in 1812 in reaction to a redrawing of Massachusetts state senate election districts under Governor Elbridge Gerry.)
Voter ID laws, part of a strategy to roll back decades of progress on voting rights, are depriving many Americans of the right to vote. [11% of U.S. citizens – or more than 21 million Americans – do not have government-issued photo identification. Obtaining ID Costs Money. Even if ID is offered for free, voters must incur numerous costs (such as paying for birth certificates) to apply for a government-issued ID.]
Voter purges, the often-flawed process of cleaning up voter rolls by deleting names from registration lists, and frequently used by Republicans, receive no mention. When done incorrectly, purges disenfranchise legitimate voters (often when it is too close to an election to rectify the mistake), causing confusion and delay at the polls.
Class barriers are not insignificant. In 2012, for example, more than 80 percent of Americans with an annual income over $150,000 turned out to vote, compared with less than half of people earning under $20,000. As the New York Times explains:
“They aren’t negligent: People who are paid hourly or juggle multiple jobs can’t afford to miss work and stand in long lines to vote. And this group includes a large number of racial minorities — precisely the people that the civil rights movement was undertaken to help.”
Closing polling places is another technique used to suppress voting by minorities, who tend to vote for the Democratic party. On Election Day in 2016, there were 868 fewer polling places in states with a long history of voting discrimination, like Arizona, Texas, and North Carolina. These changes impacted hundreds of thousands of mostly would-be-Democratic voters, who did not have either the time off of work or transportation to enable them to get to open polls.
As The Washington Post writes, "voter suppression is a crucial story in America.”
The book also explains what happens in Washington, D.C. (with the author resisting the temptation to say “nothing”) and offers only an inadequate explanation of the thorny Electoral College problem. Just saying it is “baffling” seems less than satisfactory for such an important part of the voting system. She also does not explain the ways in which it has become very non-representational. Certainly many children will be aware that Hillary Clinton won the popular vote for president in 2016 by more than 2 million votes, but lost the vote in the Electoral College to Donald Trump by 306 to 232, and therefore he won the presidency. That seems like a very important situation to clarify.
As US News and World Report explains:
"If the president were elected by popular vote, every voter's ballot would have been given equal weight, or influence, over the outcome, and Hillary Clinton would have won. But, as evidenced by Donald Trump's victory, the Electoral College gives different weights to votes cast in different states.”
For example, individual votes from Wyoming carry 3.6 times more influence, or weight, than those from California. California, as the Washington Post observes, is home to 12 percent of Americans, but holds only 10 percent of electoral votes. A similar pattern repeats in the country’s largest states.
Shouldn’t kids understand how this works? Would this not be a great subject for discussion, as it would stimulate thinking about fairness, historical precedents, and possible solutions?
The author also avers that any citizen can run for office, but elides over the role affluence plays in that determination. She states, “Elections are also about making sure the country is safe, prosperous, and fair well into the future.” That’s a bit of a misstatement, especially to the extent that winning elections is greatly influenced both by outright donations and by “dark money” which in turn ensures that those elected will work to perpetuate the income inequality that helped them gain power. (See, for example, our review of the expose Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right by Jane Mayer.)
Thus billionaires help elect officials who will push the agendas of the rich, and influence legislation to benefit their interests. After this last election, they were rewarded by a huge tax cut that benefitted the wealthy to the detriment of the poor and middle class. One wealthy donor, for example, gave $30 million to help elect Republicans in the 2016 election. He reaped a nearly $700 million windfall from the new tax law they then passed. These rich donors ponied up again for the 2018 election.
To make matters worse, Republican leaders of Congress are now calling for cuts to social security, medicare, and medicaid (which mostly benefit those with less money) to help offset the tax cuts for the rich. The relationship between money and Congress and the Presidency is so critical and so tied to policy initiatives, or the lack thereof, (consider, for example, the influence of a major lobbyist, the National Rifle Association), that it is unconscionable not to include any information about the interrelationship, or its moral considerations.
What about the effects of social media and foreign interference? Surely kids, many of whom have their own phones, should be apprised of the basics of evaluating information as well as the basics of how things work in theory.
The back matter includes a timeline that mostly highlights advances in the history of suffrage, and a list of sources for further reading.
Goauche Illustrations by Matt Faulkner are done in an appealing and colorful comic book style.
Evaluation: I am opposed to telling kids - especially older kids - fairy tales, especially if it prevents the development of their compassion, their ability to analyze and question authority, and their willingness to work for a better world. The age range for whom this book is intended, 7 and up, is surely able to comprehend more complexity and nuance than is provided here.
Nevertheless, the book does a good job in establishing a foundation for further exploration. And it would make an excellent guide for teachers who want to demonstrate the importance of ascertaining what is not included in works of non-fiction, and how that affects perceptions of reality.
November 20, 2018
Filled with interesting facts about elections, history, and voting as well as the long path to suffrage for various groups, this book will remind adults just why it's important to vote in local and national elections. But it also might inspire youngsters, the future voters, to exercise that right and possibly even get involved in politics themselves. The text reads smoothly, and the illustrations make what could be a rather dull social studies topic interesting. I learned plenty of things that I didn't already know about voting from perusing this book.
February 6, 2019
What's the Big Deal About Elections by Ruby Shamir, illustrated by Matt Faulkner. NONFICTION PICTURE BOOK. Philomel Books (Penguin), 2018. $18. 9781524738075
BUYING ADVISORY: EL, MS - ESSENTIAL
AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE
Voting in America is seen as a fairly ubiquitous right at this point, but the actual who/what/when/where/why can be a bit more complicated. This easy-to-read picture book explains the details of voting in the United States. Each page has fun illustrations, answers an important question about voting (How do we know who to choose in an election?), and includes a few interesting tidbits or stories. The basic heart of the book encourages young readers to get involved and get educated on the important subject of voting.
This is a fantastic nonfiction picture book that checks all the boxes for me. The information is accurate and important, the text is detailed but still written in a way kids can understand, and the illustrations are on point. This is the sort of book middle readers could handle on their own, and elementary age readers could utilize with a teacher's guidance. I think its a book that should be used in elementary social studies classes, for sure! Overall a great book that covers all your bases when teaching students about voting in America.
Reviewer: TC
https://kissthebookjr.blogspot.com/20...
BUYING ADVISORY: EL, MS - ESSENTIAL
AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE
Voting in America is seen as a fairly ubiquitous right at this point, but the actual who/what/when/where/why can be a bit more complicated. This easy-to-read picture book explains the details of voting in the United States. Each page has fun illustrations, answers an important question about voting (How do we know who to choose in an election?), and includes a few interesting tidbits or stories. The basic heart of the book encourages young readers to get involved and get educated on the important subject of voting.
This is a fantastic nonfiction picture book that checks all the boxes for me. The information is accurate and important, the text is detailed but still written in a way kids can understand, and the illustrations are on point. This is the sort of book middle readers could handle on their own, and elementary age readers could utilize with a teacher's guidance. I think its a book that should be used in elementary social studies classes, for sure! Overall a great book that covers all your bases when teaching students about voting in America.
Reviewer: TC
https://kissthebookjr.blogspot.com/20...
January 17, 2019
As a child, I was in no way interested in politics or government. The only reason I was interested in history at all was because it read like one giant story to me. I was there for the exciting bits, not the tedium about laws and rights. And I could ignore governance and civics because I am white, straight, healthy, and fairly well off; I’ve never had to worry about my future and my rights being in jeopardy.
Suffice it to say, my mindset has changed since I was last in a government class, but I still don’t have the greatest grasp on elections, politics, and rights. This book is like a remedial course for adults and beginner course for children: informative, interesting, inspiring, and illustrated well. It covers the whole gamut of the history of elections, the details of how they work, and why they’re important for everyone, including children. I’m glad a book exists like this so other children growing up like I did don’t miss out on making their voices heard or helping amplify others’ voices because their government class seemed boring.
Suffice it to say, my mindset has changed since I was last in a government class, but I still don’t have the greatest grasp on elections, politics, and rights. This book is like a remedial course for adults and beginner course for children: informative, interesting, inspiring, and illustrated well. It covers the whole gamut of the history of elections, the details of how they work, and why they’re important for everyone, including children. I’m glad a book exists like this so other children growing up like I did don’t miss out on making their voices heard or helping amplify others’ voices because their government class seemed boring.
October 31, 2018
This book is a beautiful one for election prep. Each double-page spread answers one question like "How do we know who to choose in an election?" where it explains the two-party system, how the Republicans and Democrats got their mascots, and the importance of asking lots of questions before choosing.
There is diversity included in the illustrations and extra boxes of information along the way. Colorful art that seems to have red, white and blue dominating the pictures. They are cartoon-like exaggerations sometimes, quite entertaining as they accompany the explanations. It flows well, tells just enough to inform about each topic.
The back matter includes a timeline and sources for additional reading.
There is diversity included in the illustrations and extra boxes of information along the way. Colorful art that seems to have red, white and blue dominating the pictures. They are cartoon-like exaggerations sometimes, quite entertaining as they accompany the explanations. It flows well, tells just enough to inform about each topic.
The back matter includes a timeline and sources for additional reading.
February 5, 2020
Message learned: General purpose knowledge about the government and election process within the United States of America.
This book was too dense. There's the main "story" which is questions and answers that explain the government and elections, but each page has three mini factoids. I could have gone without the factoids, it was a rare case of too-much-information. The main question of "What's the Big Deal about Elections?" felt lost within all the factoids.
My kids were not a fan, but I think this book was geared at a slightly older age than my children. It's certainly not a bad book, there's no misinformation here, but I wish it could have been presented in an easier manner for kids to follow along with.
This book was too dense. There's the main "story" which is questions and answers that explain the government and elections, but each page has three mini factoids. I could have gone without the factoids, it was a rare case of too-much-information. The main question of "What's the Big Deal about Elections?" felt lost within all the factoids.
My kids were not a fan, but I think this book was geared at a slightly older age than my children. It's certainly not a bad book, there's no misinformation here, but I wish it could have been presented in an easier manner for kids to follow along with.
March 2, 2019
A rosy colored glasses review of elections. It provides basic information and why it is important to vote. It does explain the difference b/t number of votes vs. electoral college; however, while it mentions that 5 different times the winner of the popular vote did not win the election, it fails to mention who the five presidents were. Also, does not mention the amount of money in politics and the potential hacking of electronic machines (although it does say that voting technology is not perfect.) I found the illustrations to be busy and overwhelming.
December 28, 2018
Good overview, but some facts have in-depth details, and other have little (such as who are the five presidents not becoming president even though they received more votes?).
This is a difficult topic to organize as the many facets are so closely interwoven. Without a table of contents or index, the reader has to either hunt and peck or read the entire book from beginning to end.
This is a difficult topic to organize as the many facets are so closely interwoven. Without a table of contents or index, the reader has to either hunt and peck or read the entire book from beginning to end.
July 3, 2020
It's an ok intro to elections for elementary students. Early elementary students may find it a little difficult, if only because the author tried to put a lot of facts in a picture book format. Frankly, not a fan of the art. A little bit Polacco-like, just not my cup of tea. Serviceable.
October 16, 2020
This is a very informative picture book about elections, that can be used to answer many questions that children have about elections in the United States. It is written in a very clear manner. It would be great to use for homeschooling and for schools when discussing US elections.
February 16, 2023
This book would be best effective in an elementary class anywhere from 3rd to 5th grade. The book would give the students an idea of what elections are, how they work, and why are they important. This is a crucial book, as all American citizens need to have an understanding of our election system.
October 4, 2018
Very useful information. I was so glad to read it and learn SO much!
December 12, 2018
Explains elections, voting, the candidate process and the history of elections and voting in America, with some humor and inspiration included. Amusing illustrations.
October 28, 2020
Read this for homeschool with the kids.
February 5, 2021
Good for basic intro. Seems to include random facts and random illustrations that don’t add much to the main text.
May 22, 2021
Lots of info. Cute illustrations. Cluttered with “fun facts” that annoyed me.
November 4, 2024
This was a really good introduction to the American government and elections. It's short and sweet with fun artwork. I would recommend!
December 23, 2025
Not relevant in today’s world (end of 2025).
March 27, 2020
Ruby Shamir makes a compelling argument that elections are important to everyone including children. Shamir breaks down why we vote, how we choose, and the basics of what elected officials and our government do for all of us. One numerical error on page 23 along with the lack of a glossary and index are the only flaws I noticed. Illustrations by Matt Faulkner add a bit of whimsy. The text flows smoothly and I recommend this title to libraries looking for readable nonfiction that is more than bare facts. Available August 20, 2020
Want to read
March 30, 2020Note: I accessed a digital review copy of this book through Edelweiss.
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews