| Of Thee I Sing: A Letter to My Daughters |
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What You Need to Know:
• Of Thee I Sing is a lovely tribute to important Americans, embedded in a letter from the President to his daughters.
• This book would make for a fine introduction to biographies.
• The great Loren Long has illustrated this book and the result is simply gorgeous. |
Sweet Book Summary:
It is our mission here at Sweet on Books to recommend great children's literature, preferably books that you wouldn't find on your own. For this reason, we spend a lot of our time seeking out the next great book that you haven't heard of yet. We do not spend a lot of time on best-sellers, because in all likelihood you have heard of those books. Of Thee I Sing is a wonderful exception and now that I have read it I wish I hadn't waited so long! I also resisted spending precious reading time on it because I am often skeptical of "celebrities" writing kids books. Wrong again! This book is terrific.
The story starts out with a tender and heartfelt query from the President to his daughters. He asks, "Have I told you lately how wonderful you are?" The book continues asking questions of this sort and answering them with a mini biography of a great american. For example, after asking the girls, "Have I told you that you are creative?", there is a beautiful illustration of Georgia O'Keefe alongside some biographical facts. In addition to O'Keefe, this book profiles Einstein, Jackie Robinson, Sitting Bull, Billie Holiday, Maya Lin, Helen Keller, Jane Addams, Martin Luther King Jr., Neil Armstrong, Cesar Chavez, Lincoln, and George Washington. The story concludes with a hopeful note about the reader finding his/her own creativity and making their own light shine. The illustrations are just exquisite! Loren Long has been nominated by the Children's Choice Book Awards 2011, for this book, in the category of Illustrator of the Year Award. A very well-deserved accolade. |
Author: Barack Obama Illustrator: Loren Long Published: 2010, 40 pages
Themes: Excellent Read-Aloud, Exquisite Illustrations, Non-Fiction, Biography |
Sweet Discussion Questions:
• Which person profiled in this book do you most admire? Why?
• Which person would you like to learn more about?
• If you are interested in finding out more about any of these famous americans, where can you start?
• What makes someone wonderful?
• Do you have a wonderful quality? What is it?
• What quality would you like to have? |
| This recommendation was written by: Melissa Y. |
| Support Independent Book Shops: Click Here to Buy this Book on IndieBound |
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