As evidence that the apple does not fall far from the tree, Chelsea Clinton referenced several children’s book titles while introducing her mother, presidential candidate and longtime champion of early literacy and early childhood education Hillary Clinton, last night during the Democratic National Convention.
Chelsea shared with the audience that her own young daughter Charlotte is a fan of Chugga Chugga Choo Choo by Kevin Lewis, illus. by Daniel Kirk (Disney-Hyperion) and that Grandma Hillary “…will drop everything for a few minutes of blowing kisses and reading Chugga Chugga Choo Choo.” The younger Clinton went on to relate that “my earliest memory is my mom picking me up after I had fallen down, giving me a big hug and reading me Goodnight Moon,” the classic picture book by Margaret Wise Brown and Clement C. Hurd (HarperCollins).
And, Chelsea remembered that family dinner table discussions with her—including talk of favorite books—always took precedence over other matters. “I remember one week, talking incessantly about a book that had captured my imagination, A Wrinkle in Time [by Madeleine L’Engle, FSG] Only after my parents had listened to me would they then talk about what they were working on – education, health care, what was consuming their days and keeping them up at night.”
Following Chelsea’s speech, literacy got another shout-out in a video introduction of Hillary narrated by Morgan Freeman (and produced by Shonda Rhimes and Betsey Beers). A portion of the video touting Clinton’s bipartisan victory to provide medical insurance coverage for eight million children features Hillary and a young child flipping through Read to Your Bunny by Rosemary Wells (Scholastic Press).
Since the speech aired online, Amazon.com sales rankings for all three titles have shot up; A Wrinkle in Time in particular remains strong, occupying the #166 position in Books on the site as of 5 PM Tuesday.
