Obama's children's book: First reactions

Patronizing...exploitative...and likely to be regarded as "suspiciously socialist"? News of the president's latest literary effort has not gone over well in the blogosphere

President Obama's first children's book is an illustrated guide through some of America's inspiring figures.
(Image credit: Amazon)

Author (and President of the United States) Barack Obama will soon release his first children's book, Of Thee I Sing: A Letter to My Daughters, an illustrated volume written before Obama took office. According to publisher Random House, the book is "a moving tribute to thirteen groundbreaking Americans and the ideals that have shaped our nation from the artistry of Georgia O'Keeffe, to the courage of Jackie Robinson...." Obama will donate all proceeds from the $17.99 book, due out Nov. 16, to a scholarship fund for the children of fallen U.S. soldiers. (Watch an AP report about the book.) Reaction to news of the president's latest work has been generally — if not entirely — bilious:

Obama should stick to "writing treaties": With its "patronizing, pseudo-didactic, blood-freezing smarm," says children's author Philip Womack in the Telegraph, the title of this book alone "makes me want to stick my fingers in my ears and scream." And I "can't help but feeling" that the entire premise is "woefully misconceived." Sorry, Mr. President, you can't just "wake up one morning and [decide], after your basketball practice," that you know what children want to read.

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