See How They Run (Revised Reissue): Campaign Dreams, Election Schemes, and the Race to the White House

by Susan E. Goodman

Presidential elections are big news-in the media, in classrooms, in Iowa and New Hampshire! But do you really know how the whole process works? For the home, for the classroom, for kids and adults, this is the one book every reader (and future voter) should have to understand our country's most important decision making process.

Genres: Nonfiction, Childrens, Picture Books, History, Middle Grade, Politics, Government

96 pages, Paperback

First published May 13, 2008

About the author

Susan E. Goodman is the author of more than thirty nonfiction books for children, including How Do You Burp in Space?; See How They Run: Campaign Dreams, Election Schemes, and the Race to the White House;All in Just One Cookie, an ALA Notable Book; and On This Spot, a Washington Post Top Picture Book of the Year. She lives in Boston, Massachusetts.

from https://us.macmillan.com/author/susan...

see also http://www.carolhurst.com/authors/sgo...

Reviews

[Kieran Devine · Rating 5 out of 5]

GOAT Children’s Book

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

A morning read-aloud selection in honor of the election year. Can I also count this as my Read Harder Challenge book about politics? Perhaps. True to form, K gave it a 4 and L a 3. I think it's a 4; pretty engaging book on the election process for the age group and lots of interesting little history factoids sprinkled through. Pretty quick read, glad we read it.

[Heather Moore · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read aloud with my 13 year old as a part of our presidential election unit study. Though I found the last chapter overbearing to the point of obnoxiousness, the rest of the book was clever and funny and super informative. Kiddo loved reading the sidebars and the cartoons that accompanied each page.

[529_allie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Every four years elections roll around and it seems like all talk is about politics and the candidates. While it is important for students to be aware of the electoral procedure and the candidates; there is a lack of books that break down these topics for students. The book See How They Run by Susa E. Goodman, breaks down these difficult concepts for the intermediate grade students. Goodman intersperses humorous anecdotes with the informative text allowing the reader to forget they are learning as they are reading. Goodman takes the reader from the history of democracy, to the forming of political parties as we see them now, through the procedure of running for president. The cartoon illustrations keep the reader’s attention and provide comical interpretations of the writing. Goodman does a wonderful job of getting students excited about democracy and elections. She encourages students to become active in their communities, and urges them to be a part of an election, when old enough, in a way that motivates the reader.
While this book is geared for intermediate and middle school students, pieces of it can be used to teach the primary grades about the election process. Each chapter reads like its own article so it would be easy to pick pieces to share with a class.

[Nicole · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fun informational book on how candidates run for office as well as the history of democracy. There are cartoons so this would be a good book for young readers as well as more advanced readers who would read all of the text. The cartoons and captions relate the processes to the students and their lives.

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an awesome book to help older elementary age kids understand our entire democratic process from campaigning to the electoral college, voting, branches of government, etc. It is easy and fun to read and is filled with lots of fascinating stories and anecdotes.

[Liz · Rating 5 out of 5]

From my blog (kidlitaboutpolitics.wordpress.com)See How They Run explains in a lighthearted way the process of electing a president of the United States. The book covers a great deal of territory, starting with a short history of democracy and ending with the importance of voting and participating in other ways in the democratic process. Yet the chapters are short and the information easy to absorb. The illustrations augment the humor of the text and add humor of their own.
The text of the book becomes a bit confusing in the attempt to explain presidential primaries and the conventions. For example consider this sentence “Each primary is a ‘pre-election election’ that determines one state’s choice for the candidate who will RUN for president.” But actually both the Democrats and the Republicans vote in the primaries. Members of each party make their choice. But what each party actually sends to the convention are delegates pledged to a certain candidate based on who won the primary. In some states the winner of the primary takes all the delegates. In some states the winner of the primary takes some of the delegates and so do the other candidates based on how much of the popular vote they earned. This gets very complicated and I can understand Ms. Goodman’s desire to simplify it. However, in the rest of the book she is so good at making complicated concepts straightforward that I bet she could have done it in this section about primaries as well.
The last chapter, in which Ms. Goodman addresses the importance of voting and talks about ways that kids can be involved in elections and in the democratic process reads like a pep talk. And at the end of the pep talk, there's great list of other books to read, DVDs to watch and websites to visit where kids can get involved in politics.
The book makes the whole subject of presidential elections fascinating and exciting. It's fun, and it makes politics seem fun.

[Shae]

What a fun book! I found a copy at work with the plans to skim it out of curiosity and ended up reading the entire thing. It breaks down fairly complicated procedures and institutions (electoral college, hello) in a way that's easy to understand and keeps things interesting with plenty of pertinent historical anecdotes and factoids. The text also works to remain neutral by providing both good and bad historical examples of the different political parties that have shaped (and continue to shape) America. It also contains a photo of perhaps the most 90s-esque campaign button ever created.

[Sandy Brehl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jam-packed 96 pages of well-researched content about elections and politics in America, presented with a well-designed combination of photos, humorous illustrations, and sidebars to supplement Goodman's always accessible narration. With traditional elements (table of contents, index, additional resources, glossary, and presidential facts) this combines the best of "textbook" elements with the highest qualities of picture books.

[Joenna · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great non-fiction book about politics. Includes information about founding parties and Constitution, funny election stories from modern US history, and explains the election process. Great for elementary kids curious about politics. I learned some quite funny stories about elections from the past!

[Chelsea · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent introduction to the American electoral system. Funny, with great stories, wonderful illustrations, and lots of fun facts. Also gives kids ideas for what they can do until they're old enough to vote themselves, with tons of examples.

Very up to date, as well - it mentions both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama;s campaigns, and does a good job covering the 200 elections.

[AnnaRose · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book teaches children how the American political system works as well as explains its roots. The style is humorous while still remaining educational and honest. I appreciated how it was light-hearted but not irreverent. It would be a helpful tool for grade school students for learning more about politics and the United States.

[Jackie · Rating 4 out of 5]

See How They Run: Campaign Dreams, Election Schemes, and the Race to the White House is a book about trivia surrounding presidential campaign runs.


Used for "Who is Our President and What Does He Do All Day? storytime-February, 2010.

[Fives OnTheFly · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really engaging book for kids that sheds light on the political process of the United States. The humorous illustrations and witty anecdotes kept the attention of the younger Fives and helped make some of the more mundane details of the election process more interesting.

[Lauren White · Rating 4 out of 5]

Engaging and easy to understand nonfiction text regarding America's election process. Text is broken up into little sections which make it easy to read a little at a time or give students sections to cover using various text strategies.
Good for grades 3-up

[Dawn · Rating 3 out of 5]

A factual look at many aspects of elections. A good resource for late elementary students in an election year.

[Martha · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overview of how elections work for grades 5-8. I can't really see a child reading this all the way through, but it seems thorough and accurate. Not sure if the kids will get the humor.

[Angelique]

i have read this book before and it is a really good book. but for now i just need it for my homework. i also like the art in the book.