Duck for President takes children on a wonderful journey through the election process. Duck runs for control of the farm, then for governor, and finally for president. Throughout the book, children are introduced to the many facets that go along with elections in kid-friendly language that they can understand and relate to. This book would be great when talking about personification, because Duck and the other animals are assigned responsibilities that people would normally do! Another way to use this book, would be to have students participate in a mock election/debate. The students would be assigned roles and then act them out in small groups to the class. 

Lexile: 680L

Fountas and Pinnell: L 

This book starts out by a duck not enjoying working on a farm. He decides he wants to be in charge so he will not have to work as hard, but it turns out it is very hard work to run a farm. The duck then decides to run for governor, but being a governor is also very hard work. Then the duck runs for president, but being a president is very hard work. Finally the duck returned to the farm and started writing an autobiography.

With this book, the class can learn all about how an election takes place and can hold a mock election. The teacher can also use it to introduce the difference of being in charge of a business, being a governor, and then finally being a president.

Lexile: 680L

This book does an excellent job at educating readers on the process of nominating and electing a person in office. It also gives a little background on the responsibility of the President. I think using animals instead of people will grab the attention of younger students better. It's much more fun that way. I like that the duck starts out at a position of no power and slowly climbs the political ladder all the way to presidency. I would use this book to introduce the election process and have a mock election, rather it be during the presidential election or a classroom election.  

Lexile Measure: AD680L

Duck for President by Doreen Cronin does a phenomenal job of educating readers on the process of nominating and electing a person in office as well as gives an insight on the responsibility of the President. I love the concept of using animals rather than people in this story because children are more likely to be engaged. This also encourages imagination as animals do not truly have these roles but are being given human characteristics. I really enjoy how smoothly this book transitions from a conflict in the story, to nominating Duck for President, to election day, etc. The story line is written so well, readers may not even notice that they are learning in the process.

I would use this book in the classroom to introduce a lesson on electing a president or the roles of a president. After reading the book, I would ask students to make a poster that has a picture of a person in their lives (favorite TV show character, friend, family, teacher, etc.) who would make a great president and list words or phrases explaining why people should vote for them. These signs would then be displayed around the classroom and in a confidential voting, I would ask my team teachers to vote on their "Team President" based on the posters. The person who made the winning poster will get a shoutout and have their work displayed in the class e-newsletter but I will remind students that there will be more opportunities for student's work to be displayed in the future and that we should congratulate the "winner."

Lexile Measure: AD680L

"Duck for President", by Doreen Cronin would be a great book to read when talking about elections. A lot of students, especially younger students, do not know what election means. This is a great way to introduce voting to them and what it means to be able to vote. Around the time of presidential election or another big election, you could read this book, discuss how to vote, how they are counted, and how a winner is selected. After discussing elections, you could hold an election with your students. Set up a ballot box and give them a piece of paper that looks similar to the way a ballot would look when voting. They could hold their own election for Duck or Farmer Brown or something else you may decide on. There are endless possibilities for voting options. Once everyone has voted, the teacher can count the ballots and record the data on a t-chart for the students to see who won. Students will enjoy getting to voice their opinion and see what the outcome is. 

Lexile Level: AD680L

ATOS Reading Level: 3.9