A new book written by President Barack Obama was released Tuesday, Nov.16. It comes just two weeks after the November midterm elections that saw Republicans take control of the House of Representatives and most of the country. The book, Of Thee I Sing: A Letter to My Daughters is a picture book for kids about the lives of 13 great Americans.
Published by Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers division, an imprint of Random House Children’s Books, the 31-page book, for kids ages 3 and up, is filled with lyrical questions for his daughters Sasha, 9, and Malia, 12. It was illustrated by Loren Long. The book was part of a deal with Random House made in 2004 as part of a three-book deal. The book was written and completed between the 2008 election and the 2009 inauguration.
The great Americans included in the book include: painter Georgia O’Keeffe, MLB great Jackie Robinson, Sitting Bull, Helen Keller, Martin Luther King Jr., George Washington and Neil Armstrong among others. Although Obama has published two books prior to this, Dreams From My Father, a 1995 memoir reissued in 2004, and 2006’s The Audacity of Hope, he is not the first president to write a children’s book. The Little Baby Snoogle-Fleejer was published in 1995 by former President Jimmy Carter.
Of Thee I Sing will have a first printing of 500,000 copies and a list price of $17.99.
–torrance stephens, ph.d.
