I Voted: Making a Choice Makes a Difference

Bloch’s balletic ink line—punctuated with color washes and textural elements in red, white, and blue—and Shulman’s crisp prose means there’ll be no sleeping through this civics class. Beginning with simple personal choices (“Markers or crayons?”) and then a communal decision (deciding on a class pet) the creators explain the mechanics of voting and how to work for a specific result: “You can talk to people who want something different./ Maybe you will change their mind./ Maybe they will change yours.” The editorial cartooning consistently strikes a fine balance between gravitas and fancy: to show why voting matters, Bloch offers up two enticing doorways, one that reads “FREE FOR KIDS” and one that scans “NO KIDS ALLOWED!” Enjoining readers to engage in grown-ups’ elections (“Listen. Read. Talk. Ask”), the text concludes with an overview of government branches. A simple volume with a vital message: “If you don’t vote, you don’t get to choose.” Ages 4–8. (Jan.)