Although we have a year to go, what is my fantasy for Election Day? How about this: a student mock election around children’s books. Kids would create campaigns on behalf of their favorite writers — or characters — complete with candidate posters and videotaped ads. Tiny “Vote Yes for Reading” and “Amend Your Vocabulary” signs would appear on every desk. Classroom newspapers would feature student-written book reports, author/character feature pieces, persuasive letters to the editor, and political cartoons. There would be impassioned debates, with students stepping in on behalf of the candidates (especially critical in the case of fictional beings).
And the winner would be? Everyone! Who could lose in a race like that?