With just under 3 weeks until election day and voting already happening in 40 states, I am taking a moment to share two new picture book biographies about the Democratic Presidential Nominee and the Vice Presidential Nominee.

Joey: The Story of Joe Biden by Jill Biden, Kathleen Krull, Illustrated by Amy June Bates (Simon & Schuster, June 30, 2020)

Though I have known the name Joe Biden for years, I realized that I knew only part of his life, mostly the last 30 years.

In this recent picture book about the democratic nominee, I enjoyed learning about his childhood and what incidents helped to shape his values and character.

Jill Biden and Kathleen Krull focus primarily on Joe Biden’s childhood and teen years until his election to the Senate. The timeline fills in some of the details that the authors chose to leave out. Bateman’s illustrative style captures Biden’s childhood.

Kamala Harris: Rooted in Justice by Nikki Grimes, Illustrated by Laura Freeman (Simon & Schuster, August 25, 2020)

Kamala Harris is my senator and would have been my first choice for president, so I was thrilled when Biden selected her as his running mate. Together I think they make a powerful team.

Nikki Grimes does a beautiful job with telling the story of Harris’s childhood and what led her to become a Senator. Though I felt like I knew a lot about Harris’s life, I enjoyed how Grimes selected certain aspects and events to highlight what shaped and influenced Harris.