Election-year books to inspire and educate include:
* Otto Runs for President (Scholastic, $15.99, ages 4-8.)
Beloved children's writer Rosemary Wells, creator of the Max, Ruby, Yoko, McDuff and oh-so-many other popular characters, lets the fur fly in another student election, this one at Barkadelphia School. Tiffany the girlie, popular poodle and Charles the bulldog jock square off as they vie for votes in campaigns well-financed by their eager parents. Things get out of hand, and the election turns in favor of a sleeper candidate with a big heart and the will to back up his promises.
* LaRue for Mayor: Letters from the Campaign Trail (Scholastic, $16.99, ages 4-8) written and illustrated by Mark Teague.
Teague's self pitying but endearing pooch Ike is on the prowl with some rowdy pals while his owner, Mrs. LaRue, is laid up in the hospital after an encounter with a hot dog cart. Teague mixes newspaper clips, letters and split color-black-and-white images offering Ike's unique perspective as the terrier heads off anti-canine mayoral candidate Hugo Bugwort by throwing his hat into the ring, but politics aren't Ike's style. Teague debuted Ike in Dear Mrs. LaRue: Letters from Obedience School and got rave reviews.
* White House Q&A (Collins, $16.99, ages 5-9) By Denise Rinaldo with the Smithsonian Institution.
President Bush gives Liberty the freed turkey a pat on the head and little Caroline Kennedy takes a ride on her pony, Macaroni, on the South Lawn in this look at life in America's most famous residence. Budding White House buffs learn through photos and other memorabilia that President Nixon had a one-lane bowling alley installed and Amy Carter had a treehouse out back. We owe the West Wing to President Theodore Roosevelt, whose six kids were so noisy he needed a quiet office space.
* What to Do About Alice? (Scholastic, $16.99, ages 4-8) by Barbara Kerley and illustrated by Edwin Fotheringham.
Speaking of Theodore Roosevelt, he once said of his oldest child: ''I can be president of the United States or I can control Alice. I cannot possibly do both.'' Dubbed ''Princess Alice'' by the press, she lost her mother soon after her birth. Alice was 17 when her father, stepmother and five stepsiblings moved into the White House. This playful picture book traces Alice's life into adulthood.
- The Associated Press
