Review - Vote for Me!

Vote for Me!
by Ben Clanton
Date: 2012
Publisher: Kids Can Press
Reading level: C
Book type: picture book
Pages: 40
Format: e-book
Source: library

Hey, you! Yes, you with the dazzling smile! The donkey wants your vote. So does the elephant. And each will do just about anything to win your support. Brag? Sure! Flatter? Absolutely! Exaggerate, name-call, make silly promises and generally act childish? Yes, yes, yes and yes. Soon, the tension mounts, and these two quarrelsome candidates resort to slinging mud (literally) and flinging insults. And what happens when the election results are in? Well, let’s just say the donkey and the elephant are in for a little surprise — and a certain bewhiskered, third-party candidate is in for a first term.

Vote for Me! is a timely satire of American politics, but it’s a story readers of all nationalities and ages will recognize. Comical, retro illustrations (in shades of blue and red, of course) are completely winning, and the duelling duo’s insult-laden exchanges promise to have readers laughing out loud.

(synopsis from Goodreads)

I don't really understand the point of this book. Maybe it would've been more amusing back when it was first published, but I think the whole world is suffering from American politics fatigue at this point. There's literally no story here except for a donkey and an elephant running for office, and the escalating mud-slinging that they engage in. They have no platforms. They're both unappealing. They both deserved to lose to the third-party candidate. (If only life could imitate art sometimes...)

I'm not sure who this is supposed to appeal to. It's pretty boring.

Premise: 2/5
Meter: n/a
Writing: 2/5
Illustrations: 3/5
Originality: 2/5

Enjoyment: 1/5

Overall: 1.83 out of 5