Obama’s book is inspiring
The 44th president of these United States of America Barack Obama has authored an astoundingly beautiful book for his daughters Malia and Sasha, “Of Thee I Sing.” It is a sweet history of 13 famous Americans, finding in them traits developing in his daughters, hoping also these qualities are likewise amplified in American children who read it.
The illustrations by Loren Long are influential, too, capturing the innocence and open potential of childhood. The art is stunning.
Readers will learn something about Abraham Lincoln, George Washington, Georgia O’Keefe, Albert Einstein, Jackie Robinson, Sitting Bull, Billie Holiday, Helen Keller, Maya Lin, Jane Addams, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Neil Armstrong, and Cesar Chavez.
“Have I told you they are all a part of you?” Obama writes to Malia and Sasha. “Have I told you that you are one of them and that you are the future? And have I told you I love you?”
To less than praise “Of Thee I Sing. A Letter to My Daughters” would be to say too little.
Alice L. Davis
Mundelein