Grace Goes to Washington by Kelly DiPucchio (illustrated by LeUyen Pham; Little Brown Books for Young Readers, 2019) is a friendly picture book introduction to government. It begins with a school lesson about the branches of government, making correlations between the principal and the president as well as between the student council and the Congress.
The school does take a trip to Washington, D.C., but the majority of the book discusses the student council issue: what should they do with the bake sale money. There is contention among the students on which things should be funded: new instruments, new playground balls, or books for the library. The ultimate solution in Grace’s idea for helping people belong. Unrealistically, it is unanimous for Grace’s idea.
Yes, it is unrealistic. If only things were that easy! Our real government cannot come to unanimous decisions quite so easily. wish the trip to Washington, D.C., was a bit more drawn out and the connection to the Judicial branch was a bit stronger. But I really do like that the story is a framed around the branches of government and that comparisons are made between the federal government and some of the aspects of their school set up. It’s a nice addition for a discussion about government for even young children.
