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del.icio.usKids' books celebrate McCain, Obama
BY REBECCA YOUNG
McClatchy Newspapers
Beautiful illustrations and inspiring words are the hallmarks of two new picture books about our nation's Democratic and Republican presidential candidates.
Objectivity is not.
"My Dad, John McCain," by Meghan McCain, can find a home in households that are planted in the McCain camp.
The same can be said for "Barack Obama: Son of Promise, Child of Hope," by Nikki Grimes, in Obama households.
These two books are pretty. And both carry messages -- courage, hope and possibility -- that are important no matter who wins the election.
The McCain book has lovely art by Dan Andreasen, who has illustrated many children's books.
Meghan McCain is clear from the start about her allegiances. The first sentence:
"There are a few things you need to know about my dad, and one of them is that he would make a great president."
She focuses half the book on her father's military experiences. Youngsters will be interested in McCain's two plane crashes, a fire on an aircraft carrier and his time as a prisoner of war.
The author chooses to omit the senator's first marriage and three of his children from his life story, writing that after he got home from captivity, he "met and married my mom."
McCain describes her father's years in Congress and his pursuit of the presidency. Great pictures show him campaigning in shirtsleeves.
A bibliography and timeline at the end would have added more meat.
The Obama book is written by an award-winning poet, who says her primary source was Obama's 1995 memoir, "Dreams From My Father," and admits to some artistic license in text and visuals.
That said, the lyrical words and brilliantly colored illustrations by Caldecott-honor illustrator Bryan Collier will also likely inspire children.
Grimes talks of Obama's childhood: surfing and spearfishing in Hawaii, and living in Indonesia.
The theme of hope is woven through the text both in Obama's story and in a side story of a mother answering her son's questions as they watch Obama on television in their tenement apartment.
On the last page, Obama is shown on a TV screen on the day he clinched the Democratic nomination.
The boy and mother watch in the foreground. In the text on the side, the child says, "Mama, I've been thinking. When I grow up, I want to be the president. Is that okay?"