April 09, 2007
Littlest White House Guests Get Civics Lesson
The tots scattered about the White House lawn this freezing morning were rewarded for their egg-rolling efforts with a storybook reading from first lady Laura Bush. The topic: a presidential election recount. (Fun!)
Courtesy of the children's book author who delighted kids everywhere -- or, at least, somewhere -- with the classics-to-be "Giggle Giggle Quack" and "Click Clack Quackity Quack," Bush read to the group of kids in attendance "Duck for President," in which the aptly named Duck runs for president and is declared the winner after a messy recount, complete with "sticky ballots."
A somewhat odd choice for White House reading, considering that many Americans who gave President Bush enough votes to win the 2000 recount now have a serious case of buyer's remorse (subscription). But maybe there's something in the book the real president can relate to: President Duck finds “running a country is very hard work” and steps down to return to life on the farm.
According to a 2005 article in Children's Literature Association Quarterly, interest groups have cited the Duck series "as resources for educating children about labor relations and socialism, economics and blackmail, literacy and disenfranchisement." Sounds like President Duck might have more in common with socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders (subscription) than with George W. Bush.
Posted at 10:41 AM
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