Children's books to tickle and inspire future voters

Parents in search of teachable election-year moments with their kids as the presidential race heats up need only depend on some dogs or a girl named Grace.

New children's books cover the voting process, life in the White House and the fight to give women the vote. There's also a book or two on what it might feel like to be a presidential offspring.

Helen Thomas, dean of the White House press corps, has teamed up with editorial cartoonist Chip Bok on "The Great White House Breakout," for release in August (Dial Books, $16.99, ages 6-up). First boy Sam enlists the help of his pet rat and cat to escape his Secret Service nannies and go in search of a Washington, D.C., beyond the White House gates. The trio takes in the sights and has an encounter with Abraham Lincoln before homesickness sets in.

In "Elizabeth Leads the Way: Elizabeth Cady Stanton and the Right to Vote" (Henry Holt, $16.95, ages 9-12), writer Tanya Lee Stone and the American folk art-inspired illustrations of Rebecca Gibbon share how Stanton fought for the women's vote and co-founded the National Woman Suffrage Association with Susan B. Anthony in 1869. Stanton died in 1902. Her life's work paid off when women cast ballots in 1920 for the first time.

A modern-day do-gooder, young Grace picks up Stanton's fight when she wonders out loud, "Where are the girls?" as her teacher unfurls a large poster of presidential portraits in "Grace for President" (Disney Book Group, $15.99, ages 5-9). The spunky Grace decides to run for president in the school's mock election. Playfully written by Kelly DiPucchio and illustrated by LeUyen Pham, the book's explanation of the Electoral College actually makes sense!

Other election-year books to inspire and educate:

"Otto Runs for President" (Scholastic, $15.99, ages 4-8) Rosemary Wells, creator of Max, Yoko, McDuff and many other popular children's book characters, lets the fur fly in another student election, this one at Barkadelphia School. Tiffany the girly, popular poodle and Charles the bulldog jock square off as they vie for votes in campaigns financed by their parents. Things get out of hand, and the election turns in favor of a sleeper candidate with a big heart and the will to back up his promises.

"LaRue for Mayor: Letters from the Campaign Trail" (Scholastic, $16.99, ages 4-8) written and illustrated by Mark Teague. Teague's self-pitying but endearing pooch Ike is on the prowl with some rowdy pals while his owner, Mrs. LaRue, is laid up in the hospital. Teague mixes newspaper clips, letters and split color-black-and-white images offering Ike's unique perspective as the terrier heads off anti-canine mayoral candidate Hugo Bugwort by throwing his hat into the ring.

"White House Q&A" (Collins, $16.99, ages 5-9) by Denise Rinaldo with the Smithsonian Institution. President Bush gives Liberty the freed turkey a pat on the head and little Caroline Kennedy takes a ride on her pony, Macaroni, on the South Lawn in this look at life in America's most famous residence. Readers learn through photos and other memorabilia that President Nixon had a one-lane bowling alley installed and Amy Carter had a treehouse. We owe the West Wing to President Theodore Roosevelt, whose kids were so noisy he needed a quiet office.

"What to Do About Alice?" (Scholastic, $16.99, ages 4-8) by Barbara Kerley and illustrated by Edwin Fotheringham. Speaking of Theodore Roosevelt, he once said of his oldest child: "I can be president of the United States or I can control Alice. I cannot possibly do both." Dubbed "Princess Alice" by the press, she was 17 when her father, stepmother and five half-siblings moved into the White House. This picture book traces Alice's life into adulthood. No carriage for Alice; she whizzed around town behind the wheel of her own car, danced until the wee hours and bet on a horse race, later embracing politics.