By Deborah Hopkinson
Illus. by A.G. Ford (He also illustrated Jonah Winter’s Barack.)
The back cover says, “Don’t let anybody set the limits of your dreams.”
~~Michelle Robinson Obama
The illustrator nails the president’s likeness, but he isn’t always as consistent with Michelle’s image. Nevertheless, the paintings and text begin with the inauguration, just 3 days after Michelle turned forty-five.
When Z saw the cover he said, “Mom, I thought that was an actual photo at first.”
We opened the book.
Z shook his head when he saw the illustration of the president. “He (the illustrator) did it. The illustrations are really, really good. The illustrations are like Xbox 360 graphics.”
Much of the book is about Michelle’s youth. Her parents are depicted as hardworking, level-headed, and encouraging. The author tells an inspiring story.
I especially appreciated the author’s steady focus on Michelle: college, law school, mentoring Barack Obama, mothering, and so on. She does not use this book as an opportunity to write about the president the way some biographers do when they write about the wives of political figures.
While looking at the Chesapeake Library holdings, I noticed that the author recently published First Family.
