Cover Image: The Electoral College: A Kid's Guide

The Electoral College: A Kid's Guide

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Member Reviews

This is the perfect book for an election year! The electoral college is an integral part of elections, but it is something that many adults cannot adequately explain. I want my students to be able to explain it to their parents!

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This was a great breakdown to help understand electoral college. I think some more graphic charts or statistics would have been a nice addition.

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Disclaimer I received a copy of this book as an ARC via NetGalley.

I think this book gives well rounded explanations to the complicated system of the electoral college. I liked that that the book hits on the big issues surrounding an electoral college. Kids not only need to understand what the system is but the inherent problems it has. Adults too. There are actions steps for kids and resources to learn more which I found valuable.

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A big thank you to NetGalley and Capstone Publishing for the ARC. I am voluntarily reviewing this book. I felt this book audience was 6-8 grade but some of the bullet points were for much younger. Example George Washington was the first President. As an adult, I still found the wording a bit confusing. I think an explanation of what winning the general election means would have been helpful. Some might assume that means winning the popular vote. Overall nicely done, a good reminder for us all. Even adults should take a quick peek. 4 stars

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I love how simple and easy-to-read this is - I wish I had a copy for my classroom bookshelf!
This subject comes up a lot, especially when we study the Compromise of 1877 and this book would be so helpful!

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This title is geared towards third to fifth graders but I think that many adults will also appreciate its clean, concise description of the role of the electoral college.  Included is information on the college's historical origins and the rationale for its formation.  Readers will learn why the number 538 is an important one for elections and will understand where the number comes from.  There is also a section discussing some of the feelings for and against the electoral college as compared to a system based on the popular vote. 

This title includes a number of photographs.  It is very readable and the author does his job well.  It is important to engage kids in the political process.  Hopefully, this book will help them to do so.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this title in exchange for an honest review.

And please, register to vote so that you and your electors can have their say!

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This was a clear and concise explanation of the electoral college. It was unbiased and read like an elementary school textbook. It would be a good introductory read for a child who wants to learn more about how the US government works.

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This is a important book in helping to explain the electoral college vote and how it works today. The author did an excellent job of explaining the role it plays in a simplistic and comprehensive matter. Very timely!

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The book gives an elementary overview of the Electoral College. The basic facts about the Electoral College are correct but I found the pros and cons section a little weak and it could potentially confuse some children as they read about the topic.

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I liked the idea of teaching children (for me, a pre-teen) how our government works. Reading through the book, I found it be laid out very well, logically taking the explanation from one point and building to the next. The elements of the Electoral College are explained well, and I had no issue understanding it.

Now for the acid test.

I read this book with an eleven-year-old. He initially questioned the example of Democracy given in the book, though the subsequent explanations of people’s rights and a representative republic seemed to help explain the concept to his satisfaction. I was very happy that he easily grasped the idea of electors who would vote for whoever won their state (and there was no question when he learned they didn’t have to vote for the winner – apparently he gets that there is the potential for people to act differently than what is expected in the world of politics).

The only struggle was whether or not we should continue to use the Electoral College. We referred back to the book’s example of Wyoming being ignored in a popular vote as there are less than 600,000 people, then compared that with the three electoral votes and about a million people in Montana. That seemed to help. It is hard to fault the book on this one, as there are many adults who struggle with this concept.

Overall, I thought this was a great book, especially when one considers that it is written in a non-partisan manner. Five stars.

My thanks to NetGalley and Capstone Press for an complimentary electronic copy of this book.

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This was an important pick for me, for I am not alone in the British population in wondering what the flying heck this electoral college nonsense is about. (Yes, if I was that interested I'd have looked it up, but hey – US politics…) And I guess my questions were answered – although perhaps not. Cockamamie ideas such as the one that representative government "means everyone gets a say, not just most people" are not much more than hot air, after all. Still, before I review the system as opposed to the book, I guess this is a suitably designed volume for the young American, so that they can safely grow up in the knowledge some hardly-accountable grandees will do their voting for them. But heck, that is everyone getting a say. So I say yes to this book, if nothing else.

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I found this very straightforward and easy to understand. Hopefully some of the people who were squawking on a few years ago about getting rid of the electoral college will read it as well.

Thanks to the publisher and to NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this title.

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I have some thoughts! Those thoughts:
1) Yes, I know this is for children. But I want to understand political things and be intelligent in the easiest possible way. And this was definitely helpful and served its purpose in that matter.
2) I am not less frustrated by the electoral college. I read this book in hopes of gaining understanding. Now I understand why the electoral college is so incomprehensible
3) I don't really understand who the target market for this book is. Obviously "A Kid's Guide" in the title is supposed to be a pretty good clue, but honestly it's not. The language and subject matter of the book obviously has to be slightly sophisticated, but it does do its best to tone things down. Still, the level it's toned down to is about a middle school level, which I think it reasonable. I don't think elementary schoolers know enough about general politics to grasp the electoral college. So while the content would be great for middle schoolers, that demographic clashes with how the rest of the book is set up. The pictures and placement of the words on the page are reminiscent of a picture book for very young children, and the facts on the side made me laugh out loud. Here Carl Meister is explaining one of the more complicated aspects of the American election system, and on the side of the page is "Fact: George Washington was the first US president!" Why, yes. Yes he was.
4) Still, I enjoyed my little perusal of this book, and it did, in general, achieve its goal, despite dubious demographics.

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***Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review***

I am an adult and, sadly, I needed this very simple explanation. I think more people would do good to read this just to have the Electoral College explained in its simplest terms.

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The Electoral College: A Kid's Guide was the perfect book to read with our 4th-grade son who has a lot of timely questions about the election progress in the United States. I loved how the book started with the history of the electoral college and what the word democracy really means. It was a great overview of the election process and within the text gave definitions to important concepts that relate to this topic.

While this book is great for curious kids, it was also very helpful to me as an adult who can still get a little confused about the specific details about how the election process works. The photos and graphics in the book added a lot to the text and there was a great balance throughout the book between narration and helping and engaging images.

Thank you to NetGalley and Capstone Press for an advanced copy.

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