Of Thee I Sing (Book)

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Of Thee I Sing: A Letter to My Daughters (In German: From you I want to sing: A letter to my daughters ) is a 40-page children's book by US President Barack Obama (text) and Loren Long (Illustrator), the 2010 in an initial print run of 500,000 copies when , Inc. Alfred A. Knopf published. The German version was published in 2011 by Carl Hanser Verlag (Munich).

content

Obama dedicated the children's book to his two daughters, who are shown with dogs on the front page. The title uses a line from the patriotic song " My Country, 'Tis of Thee ". Using 13 personalities from US history, it explains virtues such as courage, creativity and charity. It deals with Albert Einstein , Martin Luther King , George Washington , Abraham Lincoln , Jackie Robinson , Sitting Bull , Georgia O'Keeffe , Helen Keller , Billie Holiday , Neil Armstrong , Maya Ying Lin , César Chávez and Jane Addams .

reception

In the United States, the US President's children's book not only met with a positive response. The Wall Street Journal described it as “ controversial. ” Conservative television channel Fox News criticized the positive mention of the well-known Indian chief Sitting Bull. Obama recognized Bull “ as a medicine man who healed broken hearts and promises and welcomed the fact that not all people were are the same ", so the Hannoversche Allgemeine . The Internet platform of FoxNews then invited readers to criticize under the heading “ Obama praises Indian chief who killed US general ”.

In German-speaking Europe, Spiegel Online praised the children's book as “a declaration of love to the ideals of the USA” and noted that Obama's adversaries had reacted “as if on command with hysteria”. The Stuttgarter Zeitung, on the other hand, concluded that the book was “a bit thin in content without the beautiful pictures, even for fans of the president ...”. The Frankfurter Rundschau criticized: "Papa Obama, it seems, has great difficulties leaving the politician in the Oval Office after work and telling his daughters something that they find really exciting." The Basler Zeitung described Obamas as "certainly honorable" Concern, "The result then seems a bit serious and instructive".

Details

The proceeds from the children's book will benefit a foundation that looks after the children of fallen or injured US soldiers. It was Obama's third book after his political bestseller The Audacity of Hope and the memoir Dreams From My Father . He wrote it before his election as US president, because he had already signed a contract to write three books in 2004, after his election as Senator from Illinois.

expenditure

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Andreas Mink: Obama can no longer do anything right. In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung . November 21, 2010, accessed November 22, 2010 .
  2. ↑ Barack Obama is now also an author of children's books . In: Die Welt online from November 16, 2010
  3. ↑ Lynn Sweet: Obama's Book for Kids, 'Of Thee I Sing: A Letter to My Daughters,' Due in November. In: politicsdaily.com. Retrieved November 22, 2010 .
  4. ↑ Barack Obama publishes first children's book. Retrieved September 7, 2012 .
  5. ↑ Marc Pitzke: Hysteria around 31 harmless pages. In: Spiegel Online. November 18, 2010, accessed November 22, 2010 .
  6. ↑ Andreas Geldner: Obama dreams for his daughters . In: Stuttgarter Zeitung online from November 17, 2010
  7. ^ Paul Krugmann: Obamas Heldengesänge . In: Frankfurter Rundschau online
  8. ↑ Obama's declaration of love to his kids . In: Basler Zeitung online from November 18, 2010
  9. ↑ First children's book by US President Obama: "Of Thee I Sing: A Letter to my Daughters". Retrieved September 7, 2012 .
  10. ↑ Obama's children's book: The tapping of their feet . In: Der Tagesspiegel online from November 16, 2010