Politics and Pucks

A week or two ago, a fellow grad student in a non-political science class asked me for a suggestion of a book about the basics of American Government. He's an international student who is not very familiar with the American political system. Over the past week, I've been thinking about it a lot. I read a lot of books and documents that will just fly over his head. I'm just looking for something that demonstrates the basic functions and structures of the government and some introduction to major issues in American politics.

I've arrived at 3 different book suggestions:

1) America the Book by Jon Stewart
This was probably the first book that I immediately thought of. It's a funny and informative way to think about the American political system. As I looked through it the other night, I noticed there was a lot of great information, but it's masked in a lot of satire. I don't want to demean my friend, but I almost think it's too satirical for it to be helpful to someone who is unfamiliar with American politics. Don't get me wrong, I think some of the examples in this book are wonderful, and are better than many of the political science text books. The other problem is that it assumes the reader is very in-tune with American popular culture. I like this book a lot, but I'm leery of suggesting it in this case.

2) The Everything American Government Book by Nick Ragone
From the description I've read about this book, it seems very straightforward and even handed. The author was a graduate of Rutgers. The ratings on Amazon are very positive, and everything else I've read about the book makes this one attractive. Plus it was published post-9/11 which would explain some of the major changes in precedent since then.

3) American Government: A Complete Coursebook by Ethel Wood
This was the book I used for high school civics. I think it was very easy to read and very approachable. It also seems to explain everything in very simple terms. I really like that it has a lot of good illustrations and examples to explain the way the government works. For someone who is looking for the basics to be explained, I think this is a relatively good guide. It would also introduce the reader to the other parts of political study such as public and foreign policy. It also has the important primary documents: the US Constitution, Declaration of Independence, etc. My only and biggest issue with this book is that it was published in 1999 (it's pre-9/11).

I'm leaning mostly towards the third book, because of its simplicity and it's generally a good reference. So here's the open question: what book(s) would you suggest and why? Are there better other books that I might have overlooked?