Parents who are embracing ebook readers for their children can be part history when they download the first Children's ebook from a sitting president; Of Thee I Sing: A Letter to My Daughters by Barack Obama will be published as a Random House ebook on November 16, 2010. The book will be published by Knopf, and the ISBN will be 9780375983290. Random House said that audiobook information will be coming soon.
Of Thee I Sing: A Letter to My Daughters by Barack Obama
According to Chip Gibson, the president of the Random House children's book division, President Obama's book has been waiting to be published since before his inauguration in 2009. The book highlights "thirteen groundbreaking Americans and the ideals that have shaped our nation," including George Washington, the first president, Georgia O'Keefe, a legendary American artist, and Jackie Robinson, who was a pioneer in the race relationships of baseball.
The book will be released on November 16, 2010. This is the month of some big elections in the United States, and November is typically associated with politics in America. November is also the month of Thanksgiving, and President Obama's book seems to have a theme of gratitude and appreciation for people who have woven personality and meaning into the culture of America.
Why the President's eBook is Significant
Currently, ebooks and ereaders are stlll niche devices; there is excitement among techies when a Kindle vs. iPad commercial comes out, but there are plenty of people who will not see a Kindle 3 until it hits Best Buy's floor this fall. By releasing a children's book as an ebook on the same day as the release of the national book release, it seems like ebooks are becoming the new normal. This suggests that there is a large enough customer base for children's ebooks -at least a book written by a siting president - to go through the process of making the book ready to sell the book in digital formats.
A children's ebook is different from a regular ebook when it comes to formatting, so the process is more involved. Of Thee I Sing: A Letter to My Daughters will be illustrated by Loren Long, who illustrates the Barnstormers series. Art in ebooks has to be produced in pdf form, and while the iPad is in color, other ereaders are not. Kindle 3 and Sony Touch can rotate pdf images, but not all ereaders have that capability. These are considerations that have to be dealt with when converting a book into an ebook, and ebooks seem to do better when they are published with the intention of being read on an ereader, rather than just scanning in pages to become an ebook.
President Obama's book was written with his daughters in mind, but the book will be a wonderful addition to classroom libraries not just because it is by a president, but because it is about Americans who touched history. It will be a nice Thanksgiving tribute to Americans, and it is a tribute to innovation that in the short history of ebooks readers, ebooks for children are becoming part of national book releases.
Source:
Random House confirmed the ebook ISBN on September 14, 2010 in a phone call.
Information about Of Thee I Sing: A Letter to My Daughters by Barack Obama is from "Random House Children’s Books Announces The Publication Of An Inspirational New Picture Book By President Barack Obama." This press release was issued September 14, 2010 by Random House.
Alex Sharp - Alex Sharp is a teacher who has been keeping Suite101 readers up to date with the latest in audio- and e-book gadgetry since 2008.
