How to be Prime Minister and Survive Grade Five by Carla Fitzgerald

My friends fall into two groups - those who care deeply about politics and seem to know so much about every controversy and those, like me, who only have a cursory interest perhaps focusing on a small range of issues such as Education, Environment, Health and Aged Care. I am sure many Primary aged readers are curious about the political process and perhaps they even wonder what life might be like if your father was PM.

Let's look closely at the cover of this book - I spy Julia Gillard (first female PM of Australia) and John Howard (25th PM of Australia). But who are these other people?  The PM in this book is obviously based on our last PM -  Scott Morrison but his photo is not on the cover. Morrison has two daughters; they did live in Kirribilli House; the girls attend a private school (but it was nowhere near Kirribilli House); and our Scott did run away to Hawaii. Some might say he was also an accidental PM.  

I should also mention there are beautiful jacaranda trees growing in the area around Kirribilli House so the issue is a real one. I think the cover designer is also referencing the PM portraits in Parliament House in Canberra. You could explore this with your class. 

Here is an interview with the author and Joy Lawn on her blog Paperbark Words. Here is a video review with Oliver P. 

Publisher blurb (University of Queensland Press): Imagine your dad gets the top job but isn’t exactly up to it. Then he sneaks off on holiday, leaving the country without a leader. What would you do? When Harper’s dad becomes the prime minister he’s terrible at it. He was thrust into the top job after a heroic boogie-board rescue of two kids (and a labradoodle) from a shark attack, but surviving government is proving hard.  Their family is a laughing stock, and Dad disappears to a ‘conference’ – but he leaves his phone behind. With her little sister, Lottie, Harper must secretly take his place and decide on a new policy by the end of the week. She finds herself torn between ideas – should she ban plastic bottles? Or make weekends longer? Can she prove a kid can lead the country better than a grown-up?

Here are a set of very comprehensive teachers notes for this book. The text messages in this book add a terrific touch of humour. 

Grade 6 in my former school studied government in Term 2 prior to their excursion to Canberra.  For this topic I used these books in my school library and we focused on former Prime Ministers researching quirky life details and achievements.

When I did this unit of work the following was true:

• 10 Prime Ministers were defeated at a general election: Deakin, Fisher, Cook, Bruce, Scullin, Chifley, McMahon, Fraser, Keating, Howard. 
• There have been 20 changes of Prime Minister without an election. 
• Reasons include: Vice-regal intervention: Whitlam; Voluntary departure: Barton, Fisher, Page, Forde, McEwen, Menzies ; Party-room coups: Hughes, Menzies, Gorton, Hawke; Death: Lyons, Curtin, Holt; Defeat in Parliament: Deakin (2), Watson, Reid, Fisher, Fadden 
• There have been 7 Prime Ministers who never won an election: Watson, Reid, Page, Fadden, Forde, McEwen, McMahon. 
• There have been 10 Opposition Leaders who contested elections but never became Prime Minister: Tudor, Charlton, Evatt, Calwell, Snedden, Hayden, Peacock, Hewson, Beazley & Latham. 

Today I found these two books from the UK which might appeal to readers who enjoy How to be Prime Minister and survive Grade Five:

This one looks good too:

If you want to take the themes of this book and give them a more serious focus I highly recommend this fantastic book about children and activism:

Do Something for Someone Else

Finally try to find a really old book - Battle for the Galah Trees by Christobel Mattingley to compare with this book. Thanks to UQP for sending an advance copy of How to be Prime Minister and Survive Grade Five.