BESTbooks
With the 2020 election only days away, students of all ages are clamoring for information about voting. And while most of our students may be too young to vote just yet, it’s never too early to get involved in the democratic process. Here is a list of 30 election books for children, from babies to teens, to help young Americans learn about the electoral process. Readers will find something for everyone: board books for toddlers, a picture book about an elementary school turning into a polling place each year, a YA novel about a teen whose father is running for president, and tons of nonfiction books about the intricacies of voting.
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Election Books for Early Readers
1. Baby Loves Political Science: Democracy
by Ruth Spiro and illustrated by Greg Paprocki
Get it HERE.
The Baby Loves! series introduces little kids to big ideas like justice and green energy. In Baby Loves Democracy, children learn how citizens participate in democracy by voting. Young readers are encouraged to help get out the vote by making signs and sending postcards.
2. V is for Votes! A Suffragette Alphabet
by Erin Rose Wage and illustrated by Jane Pica
Get it HERE.
Published to time with this year’s centennial of women’s suffrage, this suffragette alphabet book guides young readers through the major moments of the suffrage movement that lead to women’s right to vote.
3. Amelia Bedelia’s First Vote
by Herman Parish and illustrated by Lynne Avril
Get it HERE.
The original Amelia Bedelia books feature a grown-up Amelia Bedelia, a wacky character who constantly misconstrues figures of speech. Tell her to pitch a tent and she will literally throw the tent into a lake. In Amelia Bedelia’s First Vote, Amelia is a young girl, but her antics are the same as she organizes a vote at school.
4. ABC! What An Informed Voter You’ll Be: An A to Z Overview of US Government, American Politics and Elections for Children
by Modern Kid Press and illustrated by Jaci Corral
Get it HERE.
E is for Electoral College in this alphabet book aimed at helping readers understand the complex process of democracy. Complicated topics are distilled down to simple-to-understand entries that will get kids excited to participate in our government.
5. My Teacher for President
by Kay Winters and illustrated by Denise Brunkus
Get it HERE.
Oliver thinks his teacher would make a perfect president. This compare and contrast book shows his teacher going about her day and the president going about his. Oliver’s teacher lives in a white house, the president lives in the White House. This is a good primer on presidential duties.
6. Bold & Brave: Ten Heroes Who Won Women the Right to Vote
by Kirsten Gillibrand and illustrated by Maira Kalman
Get it HERE.
Senator Kirsten Gillibrand writes about ten suffragists who fought for women’s right to vote. Suffragists include well-known names like Susan B. Anthony and lesser-known women like Jovita Idár. Each story contains a takeaway for modern readers who learn to apply to lessons of the suffragists to their own lives.
7. What’s the Big Deal About Elections?
by Ruby Shamir and illustrated by Matt Faulkner
Get it HERE.
This chapter book for kids examines the historical roles elections have paid in our history and breaks down elections at the local, state, and national levels. Children will come away learning that every voice matters in an election.
8. So You Want to be President
by Judith St. George and illustrated by David Small
Get it HERE.
This fun book features the human side of our presidents alongside funny illustrations by David Small. Readers get interesting facts about presidents that are often not included in biographies. This book is updated through George W. Bush.
9. Lillian’s Right to Vote
by Jonah Winter and illustrated by Shane W. Evans
Get it HERE.
Lillian is a 100-year-old Black woman on her way to vote. As she makes her way to the voter’s booth, she remembers her family’s history as they are set against the backdrop of major historical events, including the Fifteenth Amendment and the Voter’s Rights Act of 1965.
10. Max for President
by Jarrett J. Krosoczka
Get it HERE.
Max runs against Kelly as the two lively children vie for the position of class president. A major focus of the book is on sportsmanship, because there can only be one president.
11. Grace for President
by Kelly Dipucchio and illustrated by Leuyen Pham
Get it HERE.
Grace decides she will be the country’s first female president and she immediately launches into her campaign by entering herself into the school’s mock elections. Her opponent seems to think politics are for boys as he is the “best man for the job,” but Grace knows that women can be powerful leaders, too.
12. V Is for Voting
by Kate Farrell and illustrated by Caitlin Kuhwald
Get it HERE.
V Is for Voting is an alphabet book about social justice designed to introduce young readers to concepts like civil rights, diversity, and the tenets of participatory democracy. It is aimed toward encouraging activism.
13. Vote!
by Eileen Christelow
Get it HERE.
Vote! teaches readers everything they need to know about the election process as the story of a local election unfolds. The book covers a plethora of information from debates to recounts. Kids will particularly enjoy the subplot about the candidates’ pets during the local election.
14. Equality’s Call: The Story of Voting Rights in America
by Deborah Diesen and illustrated by Magdalena Mora
Get it HERE.
Equality’s Call acknowledges that, while the country was founded upon the idea that everyone is equal, elections were decidedly not when only white male property owners were allowed to vote. Thanks to activists, that slowly changed for women and BIPOC. This book is an homage to the work that’s been done and a look at the work that is still left to do.
15. The Night Before Election Day
by Natasha Wing and illustrated by Amy Wummer
Get it HERE.
‘Twas the Night Before Election Dayin this book written in the style of Clement C. Moore’s famous ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas Poem. The question on everyone’s mind is “who will be the next president?” Anticipation for the big day builds throughout the poem, instilling in readers excitement about democracy.
16. Monster Needs Your Vote
by Paul Czajak and illustrated by Wendy Grieb
Get it HERE.
When Monster decides to run in the election, he doesn’t quite understand the intricacies of being a candidate, including how old you have to be to run for president. But that’s okay, after a few missteps he develops a platform we can all get behind – the importance of saving libraries.
17. Vote for Our Future!
by Margaret McNamara and illustrated by Micah Player
Get it HERE.
Every polling season, Stanton Elementary School cancels school for a day, transforming into a polling place. The young students learn about the power of democracy from their teachers and get involved by encouraging the adults in their life to vote.
18. I Voted! Making a Choice Means Making a Difference
by Mark Shulman and illustrated by Serge Bloch
Get it HERE.
Children are walked through simple choices (do you prefer apples or oranges) to develop the concept of voting for or choosing the thing they think is best. They learn that sometimes adults help make complicated decisions through voting. Excellent end matter is included about U.S. elections.
Middle Grade Election Books
19. History Smashers: Women’s Right to Vote
by Kate Messner and Dylan Meconis
Get it HERE.
In reader-friendly style, which includes graphics, sidebars, and fact boxes, the Women’s Right to Vote edition of the History Smashers series explores little known details of the women’s suffrage movement. The History Smashers series dispels myths and looks at the facts behind major historical moments, including the fight for the ballot.
20. Act
by Kayla Miller
Get it HERE.
Act is the third book in a series, after Click and Camp. In Act, sixth-grader Olive is determined to change an unfair school policy, so she enters the student council race against her best friends. The book explores the heated emotions that often accompany elections as well as the idea that each one of us has the power to make a difference.
21. What Is a Presidential Election?
by Douglas Yacka and Who HQ, illustrated by Robert Squier
Get it HERE.
This activity book, which includes stickers and a poster, contains an “in a nutshell” style rundown of everything kids need to know about American presidential elections. It’s informative, fun, and interactive, making it great to stoke a young person’s budding interest in politics.
22. Give Us the Vote! Over 200 Years of Fighting for the Ballot
by Susan Goldman Rubin
Get it HERE.
The politics of access to the ballot are the subject of Susan Goldman Rubin’s informative nonfiction book perfect for middle-grade readers. She explores topics from the women’s suffrage movement to the Voter’s Rights Act, looking at the people who fight for the vote – and the people who go to great lengths to limit voter roles.
23. The Woman’s Hour: Our Fight for the Right to Vote (Adapted for Young Readers)
by Elaine Weiss
Get it HERE.
There are certainly many books about women’s suffrage, but this one is adapted specifically for young adolescent readers. The focus is on the final heated battle for suffrage, which all came down to one vote in Tennessee. Suffragists and anti-suffragists descended on Nashville in droves in the summer of 1920, making the final vote for the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment one for the record books.
24. Drawing the Vote: An Illustrated Guide to Voting in America
by Tommy Jenkins, illustrated by Kati Lacker
Get it HERE.
This graphic novel was released this year to coincide with the 2020 presidential election. It’s an all-ages read that is both informative and reader-friendly thanks to the graphic novel style. The book examines the polarization of the 2016 election and the partisan effects that have followed. It also explores the history of voting rights in the United States.
25. Stolen Justice: The Struggle for African-American Voting Rights
by Lawrence Goldstone
Get it HERE.
After the Civil War, the country entered a heated debate about whether or not to allow Black people the right to vote. While the answer was ultimately yes, the fight for the Black vote was vicious, violent, and decades-long. Voter suppression of Black Americans continues to this very day. Lawrence Goldstone chronicles the history of voter suppression from the Civil War to the Jim Crow era and beyond in this excellent nonfiction novel for young people.
YA Election Books
26. Votes of Confidence: A Young Person’s Guide to American Elections
by Jeff Fleischer
Get it HERE.
The revised edition of Votes of Confidence was updated in 2018, making it the perfect companion for the 2020 presidential election. In a nonpartisan, informative fashion, this book walks readers through the whole race, from primaries to the electoral college.
27. Running
by Natalia Sylvester
Get it HERE.
Mariana Ruiz, a fifteen year old Cuban American, is accustomed to politics. Her father is a senator, after all. But when her father enters the presidential race, things heat up in a whole new way. Worse, as she gets older, she begins to realize her political opinions might differ from her father’s.
28. One Person, No Vote: How Not All Voters Are Treated Equally (YA Edition)
by Carol Anderson and Tonya Bolden
Get it HERE.
This history of Black voter suppression takes a deep dive into the rollback of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 that occurred in 2013 as well as other attempts, both historical and modern, to oppress the Black vote. Teen readers will learn a lot and benefit from the guide to getting involved in politics in their own communities.
29. Finish the Fight!: The Brave and Revolutionary Women Who Fought for the Right to Vote
by Veronica Chambers and the Staff of the New York Times
Get it HERE.
This beautiful book explores the oft-unrecognized women of the suffrage movement through biographies and gorgeous portraits of each. While names like Susan B. Anthony are household names, Native American women, Black women, and Latinx women suffragists often go uncelebrated. They are the subject of Finish the Fight!
30. The Voting Booth
by Brandy Colbert
Get it HERE.
Marva Sheridan is stoked to vote in her first election, whereas Duke Crenshaw looks at voting as something to check off his to-do list before band practice. When Marva witnesses Duke turned away at their polling place, she is determined to make sure he can exercise his constitutional right.
Other Book Lists From Amy’s Bookshelf You’ll Love:
- 34 Latinx Books for Kids: From Early Readers to Young Adults
- 30 of the Best Read-Aloud Books for Elementary School
- 29 Must-Have Professional Development Books for Teachers
- 50 Books About Black History For Children and Young Adults
- 46 Inspiring LGBTQIA+ Books For All Different Age Levels
- 50 Books About Race For Kids & Young Adults to Read Right Now
- 29 Must-Read Native American and Aboriginal Peoples Books for Kids & YA
