House Mouse Senate Mouse ( Non-Fiction)

House Mouse Senate Mouse by Peter and Cheryl Barnes is a book that explains the process of passing a bill in congress.  This is a good tool to use in the classroom because it explains the process of signing a bill. The book outlines the roles that the Senate and House play in the legislative process along with the President’s role in the process as well. The book outlines how a bill is proposed, discussed, and voted on in a way that children would understand and could easily grasp.  This book incorporates some elements of fiction that only help develop a plot line (the story uses mice as characters instead of actually congressional representatives) but the legislative process that is outlined is accurate.

I think that this would be a really good book to use in the classroom parallel to social studies lessons on U.S. Government. The story provides detailed illustrations along with readable text that would help students to relate to the legislative process. This book is also written using elements of rhyme, which could lead to better retention by students. You could extend the lesson by having students propose their own bill and write how the process would play out in congress.