Vice President

What is it like to be the second-highest leader in the United States? This book describes how the vice president works with the president, runs the Senate, and helps the country. Readers will also learn about vice presidents who have earned a place in history. All in Spanish lanuage.

Children's Literature

One of the series, "Know Your Government," this effort is geared toward very young readers/listeners. It features a paragraph of large print text on each page, and most pages also include a sharp color photograph that generally depicts a vice president at work; although, there are also photographs of the Naval Observatory, the home of the vice president, and photographs of presidential and vice-presidential candidates McCain and Palin, and one of Palin and Vice President Biden debating during their campaign, that are used to illustrate a few of the points in this brief work. Topics covered in the short chapters include an explanation of what a vice president is, a description of some of the roles he/she performs in the government, a description of how people become vice president, and a five-person list, "Famous Vice Presidents." Those listed are John Adams, Aaron Burr, included because of the lethal duel he fought while he was in office, John Tyler, Harry Truman, and Al Gore. His brief six-sentence biography is the last page of the book, which ends quite abruptly. Several words in the text are highlighted in bold print and appear in the glossary. They are, also, helpfully defined with a word or two in the text itself. The work includes a table of contents, an index, and a list of other information sources. Generally attractive, the series might be useful for large collections that need information on government for early primary grade students. The large print, picture book format will not hold as much appeal for later primary grade students that are more likely to be studying the topic. Reviewer: Leslie Rounds