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    Of Thee I Sing: A Letter to My Daughters
    Unavailable
    Of Thee I Sing: A Letter to My Daughters
    Unavailable
    Of Thee I Sing: A Letter to My Daughters
    Audiobook16 minutes

    Of Thee I Sing: A Letter to My Daughters

    Written by Barack Obama

    Narrated by Andre Braugher

    4/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    Former president Barack Obama delivers a tender, beautiful letter to his daughters in this picture book illustrated by the award-winning Loren Long (Otis) that's made to be treasured Father's Day and every day!

    In this tender, beautiful letter to his daughters, President Barack Obama has written a moving tribute to thirteen groundbreaking Americans and the ideals that have shaped our nation. From the artistry of Georgia O'Keeffe, to the courage of Jackie Robinson, to the patriotism of George Washington, President Obama sees the traits of these heroes within his own children, and within all of America's children.
     
    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.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPenguin Random House Audio
    Release dateNov 16, 2010
    ISBN9780307917201
    Unavailable
    Of Thee I Sing: A Letter to My Daughters
    Author

    Barack Obama

    BARACK OBAMA is the 44th President of the United States. He is the author of the books Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance and The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream.

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    Reviews for Of Thee I Sing

    4/5

    183 ratings31 reviews

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    • 5/5
      This book was actually written and published in 2011, as a letter from President Obama to his daughters. The illustrations are lovely and gentle but very excellent. In it, he highlights 13 famous Americans and the qualities that make them stand out, and he relates all of this to his daughters. At the end of the book, there is a short bio of each of the thirteen. It is a book that engenders inclusiveness, creativity, perseverance, generosity; in short, all the qualities that we know the current leadership doesn't/can't/won't tolerate. Of course, having written it when he did, there was no way that could have come into play but it is just such an outstanding example, in my view, of the very quality of human being Obama is. Although it is a children's book, it sits prominently on my coffee table in my living room. :-)
    • 5/5
      This is a wonderful book for children. A picture book that tells a short, but sweet story about human diversity, ingenuity, determination, heart, creativity, and compassion. It really reminds me of learning, as a child, that America is great because we are a melting pot, but it also reminds me of learning as a child that all humans are family to each other in some way.

      It's definitely a great book to teach kids about being human and about being different and how both of those things are awesome. It's inspiring, but it also educates. I learned about a couple of people from our past mentioned in the book that I'd never heard about before. And at the back of the book there is a little blurb about each person mentioned.

      The book is also wonderfully illustrated with vivid color. Definitely worth reading with your kids!
    • 4/5
      Beautiful pictures
    • 4/5
      I have read the book and you can see just how much President Obama loves his daughters. It is shared within the book and how he expresses his love for each of them. This is a great book for dad all over the world to sit and read to their daughter or daughter and it will start a conversation with father and daughter and relationships. This give you hope on keeping your dreams alive.
    • 5/5
      Such a sweet poem to his daughters. Something for his daughter to look back at.
    • 5/5
      Full of heart... I was deeply touched by the choice of content
    • 5/5
      very emotional and truly inspiring. Thank you very much !
    • 5/5
      Precious message to inspire the new generation for greatness. Thanks Obama.
    • 2/5
      A survey of inspirational historical figures seems a little too pat, safe, and bland for a man who challenged us to dream big. Nice art though.
    • 4/5
      This book is President Barack Obama's open letters to his daughters, telling them about various characteristics he sees in them that he admires. He then links each characteristic to a famous American who also displayed the same characteristic. I wanted to like this book, perhaps just because I loved Loren Long's illustrations so much. As usual, he does not disappoint, and his illustrations are breathtakingly lovely. There is, of course, the controversial illustration of Sitting Bull, the only Native American Indian featured, being depicted as literally part of the land rather than a person in his own right like everyone else in the book. The controversy notwithstanding, it is a well-executed - if poorly chosen - design.Yet overall the book itself felt kind of flat. I like the idea of linking positive attributes with historical figures, which can give children a sense of purpose and/or motivation if they feel lagging or wonder why they even bother being a good person. But there seemed to be no rhyme or reason to anything here. The historical figures mentioned range from Revolutionary War figures to near contemporary ones, although they are by no means listed in a chronological fashion. and their contributions are anywhere from artistic to political to scientific and everywhere in between. It's not that I object to the people included per se, it's more that it just felt like the selection and placement was completely random. Perhaps as is often the case when someone pens something for a specific audience and then decides to also try to sell it for a broader one, it seemed like this book is something Obama's daughters should embrace as a lovely gift from their father. But meanwhile, the rest of us are just eavesdropping on a conversation we aren't really a part of after all. That being said though, it does appear that many people other than me did enjoy this book greatly and get a lot out of it, so as always, this review is just my opinion and that opinion is not often the majority one. I could see how this book could be useful as a jumping off point to talk about one or more of the historical figures mentioned, but this isn't the learning tool I would pick out first myself.
    • 5/5
      Of Thee I Sing: A Letter to My Daughters by Barack Obama is an informational book that teaches about diversity and American History. Each page begins with a question such as: "Have I told you that you are creative?" Then introduces a person from our American History that was creative: "A woman names Georgia O'Keeffe moved to the desert and painted petals, bone, nark. She helped us see big beauty in what is small:the hardness of stone and the softness of feather." Some others included in this book are: Albert Einstein, Jackie Robinson, Billie Holiday, Helen Keller and many others.This would be a good book to introduce to students when beginning a unit on biographies. Each student could choose a person from this book or elsewhere to research and learn more about. This book also addressed diversity issues that could be addressed within the classroom.
    • 5/5
      I came to like "Of Thee I Sing: A Letter To My Daughters" for various reasons. The book immediately starts off with a warm and loving tone due to Obama expressing in a poem how wonderful his daughters are. How the sound of their running feet brings dancing rhythms to his day, and how their laughs bring sunshine into a room. I appreciate how the language and the writing of this book came together very well. There is a consistent pattern of asking clear, one sentence questions on the left-side pages of the book, and a short biography of a historical figure on the right-side pages. For example, on one left-side page, “Have I told you that you don't give up?” is written. Then, on the next page, there would be a concise, inspirational biography on Martin Luther King Jr. The questions in this book make it engaging for readers as they look forward to how the theme of the questions and the biographies are related. The first person point of view questions make the book feel personal, and then the third point of view biographies makes the book informational. It is a two for one deal. I also loved how each piece of detail of the illustrations enhanced the story powerfully. The left-side of pages would be a clear white background with Obama's two daughters looking towards the child versions of the historical figures that were talked of one by one. Each picture on the right-side perfectly entailed what kind of impact a historical figure made. One page shares how brave Jackie Robinson was for being the first African-American to play American baseball. The illustration shows a black and white background consisting of angry caucasian faced men while Jackie Robinson is featured in the middle of the crowd in color, swinging his bat fearlessly. The main idea of "Of Thee I Sing: A Letter To My Daughters" is to inspire readers to be proud citizens and build up their nation with their own unique gifts and goals. As Obama says near the end of the story, children are the future of America.
    • 4/5
      This is a very enlightening children’s book, and Obama throughout the book is asking his daughters similar questions such as: Have I told you that you are creative, brave, strong, inspiring? Etc. With each adjective he names someone like Martin Luther King Jr., Jane Adams, or Helen Keller. In the end he does this to show what America is made up of, and that each component is a part of his girls no matter what race, religion, or belief, but each unique gift is a part of this nation.
    • 4/5
      Nice book that incorporates various attributes with famous people in (mostly) American history. I enjoyed the illustrations, too.
    • 4/5
      Very nice! Good illustrations and a nice introduction to some famous Americans. A touching tribute to the hopes parents have for their children and to contributions a variety of people have made to our culture.
    • 5/5
      recommended by: Kathrynrecommended for: children & parents; for those interested in many aspects of history & historical figuresFull disclosure: I admire Barack Obama and am particularly smitten with him as a father, with his family. I think that he has a lovely family and that he and Michelle are marvelous parents, and the girls seem like truly nice people.The concept of this book is that Obama is writing a letter to his daughters about how he feels love for them and his hopes for them, all the time educating them about people who have made a difference.It might be thanks to the illustrator, Loren Long, that this book is ingenious in its execution.For every attribute Obama mentions (creative, smart, brave, a healer, have your own song, being strong, honoring others’ sacrifices, being kind, not giving up, an explorer, are inspiring, are part of a family, are proud to be an American) he tells a little about various people in history who exemplify those things. The people he introduces are Georgia O’Keeffe, Albert Einstein, Jackie Robinson, Sitting Bull, Billie Holiday, Helen Keller, Maya Lin, Jane Addams, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Neil Armstrong, Cesar Chavez, Abraham Lincoln, and George Washington. (At the back of the book, there is a short biographical paragraph on each of them.)But what’s brilliant about this, aside from introducing some inspiring people, is that the illustrations show Obama’s two girls and then each of the famous people as children. As each person’s contributions are discussed, they appear with Obama’s daughters on the next page. So, the two girls are joined by more and more people, until there are many children going forward together, as each one joins the group. I found it inspiring, especially since the focus is on the diversity of people that make the country great. It’s children who are shown here, even if the accomplishments being talked about weren’t brought to fruition until their adulthoods.Some pictures of Bo, their dog, make it into the book, and I can never resist a cute dog.I am far from a raving patriot, and I often don’t like “patriotic” books, but I am fond of this book. I appreciate that the people featured made contributions in all sorts of different ways, and I admire most of them, so that probably influenced how I feel about this book. For some readers this book will be an unappealing celebrity book or too didactic or political, but I enjoyed it.The illustrations are great, showing the featured people as kids and having them come from all sort of backgrounds making all sorts of contributions will help make history come alive even for kids not normally interested in the subject. There is something here to interest almost everyone.
    • 2/5
      Earnest and well-meaning but painfully obvious. Mr. President, please leave children's book writing to the professionals.
    • 2/5
      I wonder who thought the idea of this book up? It reads like a spin-doctor's idea of a way to 'unite America' and mention loads of historically important people making sure that the selection is racially diverse. I liked the illustrations and the book was beautifully produced but the prose didn't move me at all. Maybe if I'd been an American I would have felt differently, but I'm not, I'm a West Indian and that means I'm support Obama but have no US party allegiance at all.
    • 4/5
      "Of Thee I Sing" is written by the president of the United States. He writes about thirteen people who made a difference and made a change in regard of culture and history. Some people he is writing about are for example: Neil Armstrong, Albert Einstein and Abraham Lincoln. This book can be very informative for children, but what I think could be a bit boring for children is that there is not really a story in the book, it's just a list of some influential persons. But all in all it's interesting and well illustrated.
    • 5/5
      This is a book that the President Barrack Obama wrote to his daughters telling them how he can see thirteen heroes in American history in them today. These people include Martin Luther King, Jr., Helen Keller, and Jackie Robinson.
    • 4/5
      Of Thee I Sing is a nice picture book with wonderful illustrations. It also conveys an important message to America and it's people.How I wish there would be a Philippine version of this book. ^.^
    • 4/5
      This is a very informational text written by a very respectable figure in history. Our president, Obama wrote this letter to his daughters and to the rest of the children of America as an informative piece about diversity and community within our nation. As the pages take us between eras marked by some of the influential figures in the history of America, children can follow with their eyes across the detailed images painted onto each page. A great read aloud for families and classrooms across the nation!
    • 5/5
      This beautiful book is an illustrated letter that president Barack Obama wrote to his two daughters, Sasha and Malia. Throughout the book, Obama recounts the courageous and historical people that have helped shape the nation that America is today, showing his daughters the importance of following their dreams and teaching them to be proud of who they are and where they come from. Of Thee I Sing is a precious book that is a not only a perfect tool for teaching young children about the history of the United States, but it is also a story that shows children that they are an important part of this country, and they have the power to change their world for the better.
    • 5/5
      Of Thee I Sing is a wonderful book written by our president. It is an inspirational story of thirteen very extraordinary people in American history. It also shows how important it is to be a proud American.I had the great pleasure of sharing this great story with a Girl Scout Troop on President’s Day. The girls and I both gained a lot of from the stories. Although most of the people in the story I knew, I was introduced to important people in American History that I otherwise would not of had I not read this story.A great classroom extension would be to have your students pick someone from the book, dress up like them, and give an oral report over the person. Also, the book would be a great for teaching about America being a Melting Pot.
    • 5/5
      I loved it! It was sweet and patriotic! I think it is just a wonderful children's book! I think it should be read to kids by their parents!
    • 4/5
      "Of Thee I Sing" is a beautiful book. Obama writes to his daughters about famous Americans that have shown qualities to aspire to. The pictures are bold, bright and will catch the eye of any reader. It great book for a read aloud to a small or large group of students.
    • 4/5
      Obama writes to his daughters about what he hopes they will grow to be by showing them famous Americans who should serve as examples to the rest of us. Charming illustrations make this unique.
    • 5/5
      Goodreads description:In this tender, beautiful letter to his daughters, President Barack Obama has written a moving tribute to thirteen groundbreaking Americans and the ideals that have shaped our nation. From the artistry of Georgia O'Keeffe, to the courage of Jackie Robinson, to the patriotism of George Washington, President Obama sees the traits of these heroes within his own children, and within all of America’s children. 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.There was a great deal of hoopla over this book on the library listservs I follow. Of course that made it almost impossible to read this book objectively. What was frustrating about the discussions on the listservs was that they focused not on the quality of the book, but on 1.) as president what was he doing writing a book when he should have been running the country and 2.) did he really write the book – of course he had to have had a ghostwriter.President Obama may be the first sitting president to release a book, but I could not find anywhere that said the book was written after he took office. Personally, I don’t really care when he wrote it. That’s a political issue and this is a children’s book. Books for children should not be political.As for whether or not he wrote the book or just added his name – I honestly don’t know. I couldn’t find any authoritative sources one way or the other. It’s not uncommon for well-known people to lend their name to a work in order to increase sales or what not. Many politicians have certainly done so.All of the political grumblings aside, the question remains, is this a good book?I think so. It’s a feel good story for young children. It provides a very positive message, something we all want for our children. The illustrations are beautiful.My favorite line is “Have I told you lately how wonderful you are?How the sound of your feetrunning from afarbrings dancing rhythms to my day?How you laughand sunshine spills into the room?”My political views do not follow President Obama’s, but I didn’t find this book to be a political statement. Rather, it is a positive book to share with children (not a bad one for adults either), but be sure when you pick up this book you put down your political opinions and read the book for what it is – a feel good book for children.Recommended for Kindergarten to 3rd grade.Mrs. Archer’s rating: 5 of 5.
    • 5/5
      Wonderful illustrations and a perfect book for young, impressionable children.-Jim, 12/25/10
    • 5/5
      Nice little book. A quick way to stick ideas in a kids head about people in America's history. I have been buying a lot of books for children recently and this is a keeper.