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Of Thee I Sing: A Letter to My Daughters Library Binding – November 16, 2010
Breathtaking, evocative illustrations by award-winning artist Loren Long at once capture the personalities and achievements of these great Americans and the innocence and promise of childhood.
This beautiful book celebrates the characteristics that unite all Americans, from our nation’s founders to generations to come. It is about the potential within each of us to pursue our dreams and forge our own paths. It is a treasure to cherish with your family forever.
From the Hardcover edition.
- Print length40 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- Grade levelKindergarten - 12
- Lexile measure830L
- Dimensions9 x 0.5 x 12 inches
- PublisherKnopf Books for Young Readers
- Publication dateNovember 16, 2010
- ISBN-100375935274
- ISBN-13978-0375935275
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From the Hardcover edition.
About the Author
About the Illustrator
Loren Long is the bestselling and award-winning author and illustrator of many beloved books for children, including Drummer Boy and the New York Times bestseller Otis. Born in Missouri and raised in Lexington, Kentucky, he is also the illustrator of Watty Piper’s The Little Engine That Could, as well as Toy Boat, I Dream of Trains, and Wind Flyers. He lives in Ohio with his wife, Tracy, their two sons, Griffith and Graham, and their dogs, Elle and Moon.
From the Hardcover edition.
Product details
- Publisher : Knopf Books for Young Readers (November 16, 2010)
- Language : English
- Library Binding : 40 pages
- ISBN-10 : 0375935274
- ISBN-13 : 978-0375935275
- Reading age : 3 - 9 years, from customers
- Lexile measure : 830L
- Grade level : Kindergarten - 12
- Item Weight : 1.15 pounds
- Dimensions : 9 x 0.5 x 12 inches
- Customer Reviews:
About the authors
Barack Obama was the 44th president of the United States, elected in November 2008 and holding office for two terms. He is the author of three New York Times bestselling books, Dreams from My Father, The Audacity of Hope, and A Promised Land, and is the recipient of the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize. He lives in Washington, D.C., with his wife, Michelle. They have two daughters, Malia and Sasha.
I have always been a huge fan of the the American School painters of the 1920s and '30s and I was particularly inspired by Thomas Hart Benton and Grant Wood. I am also drawn to the Works Progress Administration (WPA) muralists. Many of these artists were from the Midwest, like me, and I felt a connection to them. They were storytellers.
That's what I like to do - tell stories. When I plan out the illustrations for a book, I pretend I'm making a movie. The words are like a screenplay and I'm choosing which scenes to bring to life.
Before THE LITTLE ENGINE THAT COULD I never viewed myself as someone who would paint trains with eyeballs and cute little purple elephants. I began realizing who my audience is: little children who would actually be holding one of my books. I thought hard about the books I loved from my own childhood. THE LITTLE ENGINE THAT COULD was always one of my favorites, as was THE POKY LITTLE PUPPY, THE STORY OF FERDINAND and Virginia Lee Burton’s books. I began thinking about creating books that, like these, might someday become a child’s favorite. This is where the idea for OTIS started.
I approach both writing and illustrating enthusiastically. If I’m going to illustrate a manuscript that someone else has written, it’s got to be something that I love. I have to love a story enough to do it and make it mine. I hope that doesn’t sound overly egotistical. But I feel that the book becomes as much mine as the author’s, and as much the author’s as mine.
For about a dozen years after getting out of school, I did illustrations for greeting cards, theater posters and magazines. But you never meet your audience when you do a picture for a magazine and it’s not really the product - you’re just decorating the product. In book publishing, on the other hand, the book is the product. After illustrating my first book, I knew I loved children’s publishing right away. I discovered that people cared - teachers, librarians, booksellers and kids. And I got to meet my audience.
This is what I want to do for the rest of my life.
I'm honored that several books that I've illustrated have received awards. Angela Johnson’s I DREAM OF TRAINS won the Society of Childrens' Book Writers and Illustrators' Golden Kite Award for picture book illustration. TOY BOAT by Randall DeSeve was awarded the 2007 Publisher’s Weekly Cuffie Award for Favorite Picture Book of the Year and the 2008 Great Lakes Book Award for Children's Picture Book. Walt Whitman’s WHEN I HEARD THE LEARN'D ASTRONOMER was a Golden Kite Honor Book and also won the 2004 Parents’ Choice Gold Award. I've also received two gold medals from the Society of Illustrators.
I live in Cincinnati with my wife and two boys, and two Weimaraners. If you'd like to learn more about my books, you can visit me at www.lorenlong.com.
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The illustrations are very well done, full of vibrant color and artistically rendered likenesses. My daughter is only 2-1/2, and even she was able to appreciate it on her own level. She particularly liked the last page with all the different faces of children. It is a book that will grow with her, because it can be appreciated on such different levels. I enjoyed reading the words to her outlining all the special qualities she, like other precious children, posses. It is a book of diversity, hope, and a reminder of the greatness of our country, at a time when we are in need of such reminders.
Because I collect children's books I bought this book for my own library. I believe the text is outstanding and will help children learn about some of our country's heroes, past and PRESENT: In recent days, for instance, one of the women described in the book, Maya Lin, was a guest at the White House State Dinner for the Chinese president. Ms Lin, of course, was the designer of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, DC.
The descriptions of the thirteen Americans included in the book could serve as pre-readings for children to build upon as they get older and begin to read biographies and view documentaries and other films of these and similar individuals. Their skills, persistence and dedication to others and to this country are models for emulation by our children. That may have been one purpose of this book.
The illustrations by the award-winning artist, Loren Long, exude energy -- even on the printed page. One can almost hear the lilting voices of children as they march through the pages of history depicted in this book. In my opinion selecting Loren Long for the illustrations was a wise choice.
The text begins with the speaker asking if he's told his daughters how "wonderful" they are, before illustrating the point verbally with references to specific and concrete sensory experiences like the sound of little feet running and children laughing.
Then come the profiles of exemplary figures of the past, each accompanied by an allusion to their wonderful gift and a beguiling illustration by artist Loren Long. The first is artist Georgia O'Keefe, whose special talent was to be able to "see" exactly what is in the field of vision of us all; the last is jazz vocalist Billie Holiday, who sang the songs that resonated with all who heard them and who continue to sing them.
The narrative form moves from the particular--the President's two daughters--to outstanding individuals who changed history to the community made possible by the contributions of these special people and, finally, reaches closure by coming back to the daughters and the future that is theirs to anticipate and create.
The message is, basically, they are us, and we are them. The community can be only as empowering as we allow it to be, and we, in turn, can enjoy freedom and opportunity only to the degree that our collective strengths foster them. But the individual stories and pictures are guaranteed to capture the reader's attention well ahead of any "message."
I've seen my fair share of children's books, but none has struck me as representing as great a value as this one. Add to the story and illustrations the very size of the pages and quality of the paper, and you have a virtually priceless book if not essential investment. No "child"--regardless of size, gender or age--should be without it. It may not provoke the instant excitement or afford the immediate gratification of a Little Pets toy, but it will repay the giver and recipient alike for many years to come.
[Warning! I have a Kindle but would strongly advise any reader against ordering the Kindle version. This is a book that simply must be seen, felt, and lifted to be appreciated. In fact, its very constitution is as effective an argument against electronic texts as I've seen.]
Obama also includes the 13 most diverse portraits of Americans I've ever seen in any children's book and certainly far more diverse than I've seen in any book on U.S. history. Georgia O'Keefe, Jackie Robinson, Albert Einstein, Hellen Keller, MLKing Jr. and - this was the biggest surprise - Chief Sitting Bull. The brief, child-oriented comments on these men and women are accessible to small children too young to read, enjoyable for those learning to read, and intriguing for older children already proficient in reading.
Plus, by reading this to your own children, it becomes a letter from parent to child. It is also beautifully bound (I have the hardcover edition) and will be a real keepsake for my own children.
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Petite fille qui est très forte en anglais. J’ai adoré