The state we're in : Washington : grades 3-5
(Book)

"Civics is about who makes the rules. When you're a kid, your parents make the rules, you teachers make the rules, and kids just have to do what they say. (You know they are making rules to keep you safe, to keep you healthy, and to help you grow up to be a good person, but still.) Once you grow up, you get to make the rules -- not just in school or at home, but the BIG rules -- who gets to be president, what the laws are, who goes to jail, where houses get built, whether whales get saved -- all of that stuff. Studying civics is how you learn how to be a good rule-maker. In a democracy, all the adults have to work together to make the rules, and it gets complicated. There are rules about how to make rules. It's a big deal. And unless you want to spend your whole life letting other people make the rules you live by, you need to know this stuff!"--Back cover