I’ve mentioned before that I’m a fan of books (by day, I’m a school librarian), so with today being Presidents’ Day I thought I’d share some of my favorite presidential books for kids. And since there are many awesome books at varying levels and there are parents in this forum with kids in several age brackets, I’m organizing them by age.
Preschool This Little President by Joan Holub Highlighting a handful of significant presidents in a super simple, board book format, this is the quintessential starter “primer” for kids to learn about presidential history. With a more complete list in the index, you can choose how much (or how little) information you read with your child. Let’s just say we’ve started our 1-year-old out recently with this title; we grab one fact from each page (even though the pages are extremely concise and simple as they are), so this one’s for literally ANY age.
Presidents’ Day by Anne Rockwell We fell for Rockwell’s books when we purchased their “Apples and Pumpkins” book a few years ago for autumn, but this title gives story-like information about some of America’s greatest presidents using a class play synopsis. Cute pictures and a great starter book to read to young ones. Celebrating Presidents’ Day by Kimberly Jordano and Trisha Callella-Jones Simple explanation of what the holiday is, why we celebrate it, and what a president does. Perfect introduction and great for the younger ages. Elementary So You Want to Be President? by Judith St. George This is one of my favorite books to teach kids in school about many of our presidents in a fun, humorous way. Although it also brings up honest facts like that we’ve had some dishonest presidents, children usually pick up on the funny anecdotes that make the commander-in-chief more real and relatable, like which liked to skinny-dip and the foods that some loved (and hated). Brad Meltzer’s “I Am” Series Written in cartoon/comic format using first person POV, these books about many famous people (not just presidents) show children how anyone can make a difference. Presidential versions currently cover Abraham Lincoln and George Washington, but keep an eye out - Meltzer seems to be adding new titles regularly. Duck for President by Doreen Cronin This title could veer into the preschool age range, too, but I find some of the vocabulary a little over-their-heads. Follow Duck (of “Click, Clack, Moo” fame, among others) as he grows weary of his chores on the farm and decides to try to run things instead - first as farmer (which he finds too hard), next as governor (which he finds too hard), and finally as president (get where we’re going with this one?). A cute one the kids will love.
