The good folks at Mothertalk invited me to review the young reader's edition of Obama: The Historic Journey (the grown up version is here) and I was happy to do so. My respect, admiration, and alright I'll admit love, for our 44th president knows no bounds, and this book did a great job of reminding me why.
The book was put together by the New York Times with text by Managing Editor, Jill Abramson. It recounts the familiar story of Barack Obama's voyage from childhood through his presidential campaign to his inauguration. The text is reportage and reads as such - it can be a bit dry. The Kid and I both wanted more story telling, less reporting.
What makes this book appealing is the outstanding photographs. That's where the story we were longing for really comes alive. From boyhood photos to breathtaking images from the campaign,
(Did we ever before have such a gloriously photogenic president?)
(Did we ever before have such a gloriously photogenic president?)it's the photographs in this book that provide a portrait of our president, the man whose inspiring message has touched the world so profoundly and changed our country forever for the better.
Hope is that thing inside us that insists, despite all evidence to the contrary, that something better awaits us if we have the courage to reach for it, and to work for it, and to fight for it.
Barack Obama, January 3, 2008
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I still haven't gotten over the good feelings of this election, and I hope I never will. (Nathan got so involved, too--out of the blue he will still say earnestly, emphatically, "I LOVE Obama.") Isn't it marvelous?!
ReplyDeleteI started to leave a comment yesterday, and my computer hiccuped. :(
ReplyDeleteI just discovered Haven Kimmel's (Zippy's) blog. By strange coincidence, she stopped blogging a few days before I found it, but reading through the archives was fun, and there were several uplifting posts about Obama. She said something very true about his genuine smile. I love that photo you posted. That is the smile, all right!
I think props also have to go out to the people who are actually photographing him. They are artists!
ReplyDeleteI have to get my hands on a copy of this NYTimes issue. It looks awesome!