Doreen Cronin - Duck for President

When a duck gets tired of his chores what does he do? Well he runs for office of course. In Duck for President, Duck lives on a farm with a farmer and other animals. Everyone has chores and Duck's are to empty the trash, mow the lawn, and grind coffee beans. He doesn't like being covered in grass clippings and bits of coffee grinds. He decides to run for farmer. He thinks he can run the farm better.

And he wins. But he isn't fond of his farmer responsibilities either, so he decides to step it up and run for governor. He does the typical things a candidate would do like visit diners and march in parades, and...he wins. But running a state is hard too, so he decides to move up and run for president. He gives speeches (that only other ducks could understand), kisses babies, and plays the saxophone on late night tv. And..he wins too! But where can he go from here? Does he like his new job? Was it all he dreamed of?

The book is written by Doreen Cronin and illustrated by Betsy Lewin. The animals are cute, but mostly realistic, they aren't wearing clothes or anything except for the occasional political hat. I loved how the farmer looked, very tired. And the look of shock on the incumbent governor's face when she saw the tally of the votes is great. The illustrations are done in brush and watercolor and are colorful and fun, plus they match the text very well. There is some humor in the illustrations, but even more in the text. There were several times when I laughed and some humor will appeal to adults reading to their kids awhile some will appeal more to the kids hearing the story, so it's a fun book to read aloud.

The book has 29 pages and just a few sentences on each page. It has an AR BL of 3.9 but it's a quick read. Our copy came with a CD of the book being read with a track length of 10 minutes. I'd recommend this book to children 4-8 years old and it's a perfect one to read around an election time to children, to help jumpstart a conversation or for a mini lesson about politics at a level they will find easier to understand. I definitely recommend this one.

Recommend this product? Yes