The Voice of the People

Betsy and Giulio Maestro have once again turned their highly creative talents into pure gold for the civics classroom. As a teacher, I find many uses for their books about America and its history. Their eye for the essential and interesting make students turn the pages like the most engaging fiction books. This edition is no exception. They trace the key documents and processes that make our democracy work - from inception through today. The large format illustrations and charts are as intriguing as they are informative.We use classroom sets of this book with our 5th grade students as they discover the "bill-to-law" process and experience the election cycle in class projects. We feel there are many more challenging ideas yet to be developed for our students using this text. If you are considering a "standard" civics text, take a look at this gem of a resource first before you buy anything!