What is Politics? Why Should We Care? And Other Big Questions

Children might not think there’s any point in them understanding what politics is, given that they can’t vote until they’re 18, but in fact none of us can truly say that we’re not involved in politics in some aspect of our lives – even children.

This might be because we have to go to hospital at some point – and a free health service is the result of a political choice that was made by the UK government. The fact that children go to school is decided by government, as well as what they learn – and choices made by politicians can also really affect the lives of people when it comes to health and wellbeing, as in the real-life account of Nimko Ali, a FGM survivor and activist, and Michelle Dorrell, a single mum whose reaction to a cut in tax credits led her to get involved in politics.

In this clear and helpful book, Michael Rosen and Annemarie Young explain what politics is, the forms it takes, why politics can cause division and disagreement, and why we should all care about it. Including short interviews with themselves, Nimko Ali, Michelle Dorrell, playwright James Graham and Conservative MP Stephen O’Brien, Rosen and Young enable real people to tell their stories and make politics human and relatable for children.