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Reviewed by: Taylor Coonelly, Elementary School Librarian Title: Our Congress
Author: Christy Mihaly
Illustrator: Doruntina Beqiraj
Publisher: Albert Whitman and Co
Year: 2024 Good for Grades: 4-8 Genre/Type of Book: Government
Content Warnings, or things that other School Librarians should be aware of: Mention of January 6th, 2021 Recommended for a school library: Yes Reason(s) for choosing the book:
Nominated for the CYBILS award for Elementary/Middle Grade Fiction
If you were tasked by the publisher with writing a short quote for the back cover of this book, what would it be:
100 Senators and 435 Representatives working to serve the people of the United States of America: but why does it matter?
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Review:
100 Senators and 435 Representatives working to serve the people of the United States of America: but why does it matter?
When Alice's mom gets elected to the House of Representatives, Alice can't understand why her mother would want a job working for Congress. As she explores the Capitol building, she meets a ghost cat and several figures (James Madison, a high school Senate page, Senator Blanche Bruce, a committee staff person, a lobbyist and a Capitol police officer) who describe the different roles and responsibilities the government and Congress play. James Madison shares with Alice what the Constitution is, the role of the 3 branches of government, and the 2 party system. As Alice travels to the Senate floor, where she meets a page who tells her stories about the ways in which senators arose strong feelings to provide for voters. She then meets former slave and Senator Blanche Bruce, her shares with Alice the treacherous past of voting and slavery in the United States. When Alice stumbles into a committee room, she meets a staffer and lobbyist who share how a bill becomes a law and the job of lobbyists in sharing the goal of common interest groups. The last individual she meets is a Capitol police officer, who shares about the events of January 6th, 2021 and how brave Capitol staff can be. Alice finds her way back to her mom, and shares that she now understands the importance of her mom's job, and in serving as a government representative.
This book is definitely geared more towards an upper elementary and middle school audience. The text is featured in speech bubbles and reads like conversations rather than just the statement of facts, which makes the book more interesting and interactive. The illustrations are simple, yet combined with the text make a picture book that is fun to read and models parts from graphic novel format. The back of the book features a glossary of terms, facts about the Senate and the House of Representatives, and firsts in Congress, all of which are great resources for young readers and adults using this text.
I think that the topics and ideas mentioned in this book (the Constitution, Senate, 3 branches of government, how a bill becomes a law, etc.) are incredibly important for upper elementary and middle school students to learn about. To create informed citizens and voters, we first need to teach kids about the government, its power, and what it can do for individuals like themselves. I think that this book would be a great place to start, as a read aloud or mentor text when talking about any of these issues, and maybe even as a starting point for a project learning about branches of government/presidents/senators/ and more.
Number of party hats:
For more information about this book, see the Publisher's Website