"A President has to lead by example, even if it means cleaning her own room."
Madam President is a fun and clever book written by Lane Smith. It follows a girl as she explains some of the duties of the president, but through the wonderfully modern illustrations the girl takes us through what those duties mean to a young lady at school and at home. She vetoes tuna casserole in the lunchroom, and her goldfish is Secretary of Underwater Exploration. Get your singing voice ready, as she also takes the school band through her own version of “Hail to the Chief”. Don’t forget to turn all the pages, or you’ll miss the Secret Service cat’s last word.
Curriculum Connections
I would recommend this book for grades 1-4. It is fun and not only teaches children about what a President’s job is, but it also subtly lets kids know that a girl can grow up to be anything she wants, including President of the United States.
This book is perfect for addressing the roles and powers of the executive branch of government, Virginia Civics and Government SOL CE.7b: The student will demonstrate knowledge of how public policy is made at the local, state, and national levels of government by describing the roles and powers of the executive branch.
Additional Resources
Here is a great game that kids can play on their own or in groups of two or three called If You Were President. I would recommend this game for grades 3 and up. Balancing the budget on the third slide is a little tricky, and it asks you to explain why different aspects (Military, Health Care, Education, etc) are important to you, and it ends by creating a newspaper article about President (your name here).
For the lower grades, here is a page of President Coloring Pictures. They suggest it for President’s Day, but I say you can use it whenever you like.
And here are slide shows of Presidents and Presidential Pets.
General Information
- Book: Madam President
- Author: Lane Smith
- Illustrator: Lane Smith
- Publisher: Hyperion Books for Children
- Publication Date: 2008
- Pages: 40
- Grade Range: 1-4
- ISBN: 1423108469