On November 16, two weeks after Election Day, President Obama will coax a decidedly less rambunctious crowd: kids age three and up. His children’s book , Of Thee I Sing: A Letter to My Daughters, is a tribute to 13 American pioneers, from George Washington to Jackie Robinson. The cover of the 40-page tome, illustrated by Loren Long sees first daughters Sasha and Malia walking their dog Bo along a grassy field. Of Thee I Sing is part of Obama’s three-book, $1.9 million deal with Random House that the now President reached in 2004, enabling his family to purchase their home on Chicago’s South Side, according to Politics Daily. All proceeds from the book will go towards a scholarship fund for the children of fallen U.S. soldiers. “It is an honor to publish this extraordinary book, which is an inspiring marriage of words and images, history and story,” Random House children's president Chip Gibson told the AP.
Pablo Martinez Monsivais
While Madonna’s forays into
filmmaking and
rapping didn’t go so well, the pop icon has proven to be quite the accomplished children’s author. Her first book, 2003’s
The English Roses, centers around a clique of four London schoolgirls who, due to a misconception, become jealous of a lonely classmate named Binah. The 96-page book, aimed at an audience between the ages of nine and 12, features lush illustrations by Jeffrey Fulvimari, and lead to 11 more
English Roses volumes, which have been published in more than 100 countries worldwide. Many of the stories are inspired by Madonna’s belief in Kabbalah. Binah—her heroine’s name—is Hebrew for understanding and two of the books are credited to Ba'al Shem Tov, a Hassidic leader in the 1700s. “I didn't get the stories from the Kabbalah Centre,” Madonna told
The Guardian. “Some I gleaned from my studies, but I've adapted them to a modern vernacular. Some I made up. The idea of sharing is not unique to Kabbalah. The story of
The English Roses is universal… people jumping to conclusions about other people.”
The outspoken comedienne and television co-host brought her irreverent style to the world of children’s literature with her 2006 book, Whoopi’s Big Book of Manners. Throughout its more than 40 pages, The View co-host Whoopi Goldberg schools children– ages four to eight – on a variety of behavior from rudeness at the movies to how to be a good sport to when it is (and isn’t) okay to stick something up your nose. “I like the little-kid audience, because I can be silly with them,” Goldberg told Time Out New York Kids. “I can’t be silly with young adults.” Goldberg has since released a series of children’s books entitled Sugar Plum Ballerinas, about a multiethnic group of ballerinas. “I suppose there are people out there for whom a celebrity's name on a book jacket is a draw,” one reviewer at ParentDish wrote. “But in the case of Whoopi Goldberg, we need to remind ourselves that the celeb in question got her start as a writer.” The writer called Goldberg’s Sugar Plum Ballerinas series “sweet, moving, and genuinely funny.”
Evan Agostini / AP Photo
The literary debut for four-time Oscar nominee—and mother of two—was her 32-page children’s book
Freckleface Strawberry. Though her film work is usually aimed squarely at adults (as any
Boogie Nights viewer can attest), Moore’s 2007 book is intended for children between the ages four and eight. The story is a personal one for the famous redhead, who received the nickname “Freckleface Strawberry” at the age of seven. She passed along this moniker to her story’s heroine—a 7-year-old girl who must learn to love the skin she’s in. “Of course, you grow up and you go, ‘What’s so bad about that?’” Moore told
The New York Times of the epithet. “The message in the book is that the little girl grows up and her freckles don’t go away. I didn’t want it to be a fairytale. We all have things about ourselves that aren’t our favorites, but in the grand scheme of things, it’s the last thing that’s important.” Moore’s New York Times best-selling book has since been adapted into an Off-Broadway
musical that began previews on Sept. 9 and officially opens on Oct. 4.
The Halloween actress has produced nine children’s books with illustrator Laura Cornell, with whom she’s become half of a No. 1 New York Times best-selling duo. The team’s latest, My Mommy Hung the Moon: A Love Story is about the inimitable connection between mother and child. Curtis imbues the 40-page book with her own life experiences as a mother of two and daughter of classic movie star couple Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh. “Whatever my life brings me, no matter what or how far I reach out into the universe, the only change that really matters in my life is the feelings that are with my family, my children,” Curtis told USA Today. “Out of all the books I've written, this really is the one that talks about that connection with your child. It's the idea that the world exists because Mommy makes it exist.”
Matt Sayles / AP Photo
In 2007, comedian, director, and City Slickers star Billy Crystal introduced the No. 1 New York Times best-selling children’ book I Already Know I Love You, a love poem penned to his unborn grandchild. At the opening of the story, readers meet Grandpa Crystal, who imagines his grandchild’s birth, and continues with all the fun that follows, from horsey to peek-a-boo. As About.com’s Susan Adcox reviews, “Crystal lacks the instincts of a natural poet. His verse sometimes lumbers rather than dances, and rhymes can seem strained: ‘I’m waiting to show you the stars, / storm clouds and the moon. / I want to make silly faces / and laugh just like a goon.’ Still, grandparents are bound to go all gooey at the book’s closing couplet, ‘I’m going to be your grandpa, and ... / I can hardly wait.’” And Crystal’s sentimental prose is only augmented by dream-like pastel illustrations from Elizabeth Sayles.
The current anchor of CBS Evening News has also written two children’s books – the more recent of which, 2004’s The Blue Ribbon Day, reunites friends Ellie and Carrie from her first book, Brand New Kid. Using her daughters’ nicknames as inspiration for her protagonists, Couric addresses the hardships of growing up. In her sophomore effort, The Blue Ribbon Day, the anchor encourages children to roll with the punches—although Carrie fails to make the soccer team with Ellie, her mother’s motivational words inspire her to start anew and she eventually wins the school science fair. Couric told USA Today she wanted to “get across a family life lesson in a fun way: Everyone is good at something… As parents, we're often afraid to let our kids experience disappointments, but they can learn from that." The TV journalist added, “I enjoy writing little ditties. A book is tangible, not like an interview that goes off into the stratosphere.”
Evan Agostini / AP Photo
From Sarah the Duchess of York Ferguson (better known as Fergie) comes Tea for Ruby, a 2008 children’s book centering on the princess-obsessed titular character who is invited to have tea with the Queen. Along the way, Ruby learns proper etiquette in preparation; but, in the end of the book (which features illustrations from Robin Preiss Glasser), the hostess turns out to be Ruby’s grandmother. “Although everyone may not have a chance to be in the direct presence of royalty and all that it represents,” writes Lori West of the blog Curled Up With a Good Children’s Book, “ Tea for Ruby is a gem which, thankfully, we can all access.”
Bret Hartman / AP Photo
In Princeton grad, model, and actress Brooke Shields’ children’s book It’s the Best Day Ever, Dad!, the protagonist Frankie and her younger sister, Violet, venture out on a trip with their father, snack on pancakes, and play with puppies, among other things. “ It’s the Best Day Ever, Dad! is fun for daughters who dote on their dads,” reviewed BooksForKidsBlog, “and, we hope, an inspiration to fathers everywhere.” Before their 2009 collaboration, Shields previously teamed up with illustrator Cori Doerrfeld on the 2008 picture book Welcome to Your World, Baby, which is about being a big sister.
Evan Agostini / AP Photo
Family Huddle , a 2009 children’s story from (and about) the NFL’s Manning family—Eli, Peyton, and their father Archie, plus Cooper and mom, Olivia—is based on their memories growing up in Mississippi and Louisiana. Centering on a trip to their grandparents’ house, the book (with digital graphics from Jim Madsen) mostly involves kids’ jokes and football plays—just like the good ole’ days. As NPR puts it, Family Huddle shows how the Manning boys “learn to support and encourage each other while playing football under their parents’ encouraging eyes.”
Matt Sayles / AP Photo
The Very Fairy Princess -- a 2010 collaboration between English actress/singer Julie Andrews and her daughter, Emma Hamilton-- is a classic fairytale about the boring life of a freckle-faced, scab-kneed girl named Geraldine. With her vivid imagination and passion for the color pink, Geraldine is able to transform the world around her. The book, as The New York Times writes, “offers a refreshingly different definition of ‘sparkle’: Geraldine tells us she does ‘everything that fairy princesses do,’ including sliding down banisters and running for the bus (‘scabs are the price you pay’). The message is that working hard in class, and sometimes getting a little carried away, can be part of being a princess too.”
Jason Merritt / Getty Images
Country music star Tim McGraw turned his 2006 song “My Little Girl” into a book of the same name with author Tom Douglas in 2008. The book, which includes a forward from his wife and fellow country singer Faith Hill, follows a father and his young daughter—along with their bloodhound dog—as they hang out by a duck pond, stop by a farm co-op, gaze at clouds, and play on a tire swing. “McGraw makes it clear that quality time for dads and daughters can be had by doing very ordinary things,” reviews the blog Journey Toward Stillness. “It’s about time that there was a book made especially for dads to read to their little girls.” Two years later, McGraw teamed up with Douglas again for his follow-up children’s book Love Your Heart.
Dan Steinberg / AP Photo
