Obama to publish children's book

[mike r]

Source: The Guardian

He has conquered the world of adult books with his two bestselling titles Dreams From My Father and The Audacity of Hope. Now, Barack Obama is moving into writing for children with an introduction to some inspirational Americans.

The US president's picture book, Of Thee I Sing: A Letter to My Daughters, is billed as a tribute to 13 "groundbreaking Americans and the ideals that have shaped nation". It will be on bookshelves from 16 November, according to an announcement today from its publisher.

From the "patriotism" of America's first president George Washington to the "artistry" of Georgia O'Keeffe and the "courage" of baseball player Jackie Robinson, the 40-page book is "an inspiring marriage of words and images, history and story", said Chip Gibson, president and publisher of Random House Children's Books, whose imprint Alfred A Knopf Books for Young Readers will release the title later this autumn.

Illustrated by Loren Long, who has previsouly provided the artwork for bestselling books including The Little Engine That Could, the picture book's cover shows Obama's daughters Sasha and Malia walking their dog, Bo, through a sunny, grassy field. Of Thee I Sing will have a first print run of half-a-million copies, and all author proceeds will be donated to "a scholarship fund for the children of fallen and disabled soldiers", according to Random House.


Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/sep/14/obama-publish-children-book

[onehandle]

1. Socialist Muslim Nazi Liberal Kenyan Indoctrination. nt

[wtmusic]

9. Kee-rist, you're getting as fast as a Teabagger

:D

[Demeter]

2. The Man Has Too Much Spare Time, Obviously

[valerief]

3. Oh, no!!!! We associate children's book with GWB, not Obama!!!!! nt

[earthside]

4. Really?

Laudable effort.

But terrible timing.

A political gift to Repuglicans ... the nation is in a mess and Pres. Obama has the time to write a book for kids.

[uncle ray]

6. yeah, he should be doing something worthwhile with his spare moments.

like clear some brush.

[OhioChick]

14. That was my first thought n/t

[Iowa]

22. Yep. That was my first thought as well.

[Starbucks Anarchist]

27. Because he's clearly as idiotic as Bush.

:eyes:

[jaxx]

5. Proceeds to the kids of fallen and disabled soldiers.

I hope it sells like crazy, which it most likely will.

[lunatica]

7. Let the squawkin begin!

edited to add more hair on fire

[NYC_SKP]

13. Oh! That's hair on fire. I get it now.

Edited to add the female hair-on-fire graphic.



Saw these two earlier and thought it was one redhead chasing after the other.

I can now see the fire part.

:hi:

[madmom]

8. Well, now I know what I'm getting my grand daughter for christmas.

[DainBramaged]

10. I think maybe he needs to worry about ALL of his children first

:eyes:

[Frisbee]

11. Couldn't this project wait until he's out of office...

You know, like 2013 at this rate? He needs to focus on one thing right now, and that's kicking the ass of the Republicans. Exposing them for the hypocrites they are and how they are doing everything they can to wipe the middle class from the face of the earth. Writing a children's book, give me a f---ing break!

[bc3000]

16. Maybe writing is recreational for him

The president is allowed a little time to himself. And he's allowed to spend that time to write a children's book rather than play golf if he prefers.

[uncle ray]

17. do we not allow the president a bit of his own time?

really, must every waking hour be spent solving our problems for us?

i realize for some of us, writing even a childrens book would be quite a task, i suspect for him it's not such a big deal.

give you a break? give the fucking President a break.

[Retrograde]

23. true, but it comes across as a bit tonedeaf

He can't be on 24X7. He's entitled to some downtime. Maybe he dictated the book while he was exercising or doing something else. Maybe he gets by on only 4 hours of sleep. Whatever. It comes across as him not paying complete attention to running the country (yeah, I don't think all his predecessors were on the job all the time either - St. Ronnie and Shrub especially) and you can bet the GOP is going to jump on it and use it for all it can. The best they'll be able to say is that he's juggling too many balls to do a good job running the country; worse, they'll say he's in the job for his personal glorification.

[LanternWaste]

24. delete

[Dream Girl]

18. Wow, just wow....

Who ARE you????

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

19. Listen, I don't know how many hundreds of man-hours it'd take you to produce a kids book.

Given your wishful thinking about a Republican president in 2012, probably a lot.

[Frisbee]

25. Wishful thinking my ass!

But it won't surprise me if it happens.

[Missy Vixen]

28. For any other author, years

For this project? A week or two, tops. There is most likely a ghostwriter or other author attached to the project. The outlines of the personalities involved were determined before work even began. The illustrator/photographer handled the rest.

Children's books are difficult to write at best.

[Name removed]

12. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[madamesilverspurs]

15. Sweet.

With ALL proceeds going to the children of "fallen and disabled soldiers", this stands in glaring contrast to the ripoff "charities" of Beck and Hannity.

How great is it that we have a President who CAN multi-task without repeatedly falling on his face!


-

[msanthrope]

20. Amazon pre-order link

http://www.amazon.com/Thee-Sing-Letter-My-Daughters/dp/037583527X/ref=sr_tr_1?ie=UTF8&s=aps&qid=1284483897&sr=8-1

Have it on my daughter's Christmas Wish List.

[alp227]

21. This book is coming out two weeks after the election i see.

But I'm sure that being president is Obama's first priority...after all he's got his first amendment rights to publish this doesn't he? And proceeds are going to a good cause too...children of fallen/disabled soldiers.

[Safetykitten]

26. Amazingly bad timing. This really is out of control.