Madam President

Madam President by Lane Smith
2008

After reading a book about U.S. Presidents, a little girl imagines/pretends to be Madame President. There are executive orders to give ("More waffles, please"), lunch to approve (brown bag school lunch), babies to kiss (an unexacting baby in his carriage), treaties to negotiate (getting a cat and dog to shake hand), and increasing security during recess. A good president must be diplomatic ("which is why I'm not commenting on that hat"), and tackle press conferences with grace ("C'mon, Tiffany, get real! No comment"). A president has special privileges, like the power to veto bad school cafeteria food, lame school musicals and everything else she feels is just not good enough for the "Head Honcho, Big Cheese!" At the end of a busy day, which also included averting a major disaster (a messy bedroom), the girl lays in her bed exhausted. "Sometimes even a president gets pooped."
Madam President will entertain old and young alike. Its main character is a determined little girl with a lot of knowledge and spunk. Smith's illustrations are great as usual. There's a lot of humor in its pages. I especially like the two page spread with the cabinet which includes Mr. Potato Head as the secretary of agriculture. Great read aloud to introduce the executive power in the lower grades.