Ever wonder what it takes to be President of the United States? Ever wonder how the Senate works? What about the progress of our legal system such as when and how did women get the right to vote? Its all right here in four shorts based on kids books geared at teaching kids about our country brought to life and narrated to great effect.

The title of the compilation is the name of the first, and best of the four stories, short on the disc. If you can remember VH1’s Pop-Up Video then your going to get that feel from this short that has more trivia and answers about our presidents (up to the year 2000) then you know what to do with. I was wowed by the amount of information in this story, stuff I never knew or heard before, and for a awhile I was in the mindset that this was the perfect view of politicians for kids; safe, funny, and relevant for a child’s mind. Of course you can’t talk politics without getting a little mud on you and I was disappointed when a motto like “Always tell the truth” is followed up by a brief informative on Richard Nixon and Bill Clinton’s impeachment. Disappointed really that somewhere at some point a child will turn to their teacher or parent and ask the dubious question of what Bill Clinton lied about on the stand and why? Well, for the most part it was a good short.

My Senator and Me: A Dog’s-Eye View of Washington, D.C. was the only short my kids walked away from and rightfully so. While Edward M. Kennedy’s book seemed very well intentioned giving a pretty neutral look at politics it was absolutely brought to the small screen with a slow paced vision that was in a sense boring and transparent. Maybe it was the choice of David de Vries who narrated the short that gave the overall piece a very lag feeling.

Madam President is the least political offering up kind of a silly kids eye view of the duties of the presidency. The kids loved it and laughed the most while watching it. Finally I Could Do That! Esther Morris Gets Women To Vote, the final short on the disc is informative, blunt, but safe for kids. The kids really enjoyed this one and our middle child, who had been learning about this era in history, simply lit up and half narrated the entire piece for us. All in all it was a good collection of shorts based on kids books that parents can feel relatively safe allowing their children to watch and learn from and no doubt get many views from.

Bonus features include:
Author Interview with Lane Smith on Madame President* Meet Senator Edward M. Kennedy and Splash* Read-Along* Presidential Timeline*Discussion Questions*Trailers