Barack Obama & Barack Obama: Son of Promise, Child of Hope

Barack Obama by Jennifer Zeiger

Part of the Scholastic "Cornerstones of Freedom" - "Bringing History to Life" series

AND

Barack Obama: Son of Promise, Child of Hope by Nikki Grimes Illustrated by Bryan Collier

I read two biographies for young readers that focus on Barack Obama.  Though the books shared the same subject, each approach was different and make for an interesting comparison.

The first book is Barack Obama by Jennifer Zeiger.  Written in 2012 prior to the election, this book covers Obama's life leading up to his involvement in politics as well as his ascent to become the first African American president.  Zeiger draws the reader in from the first page, which focuses on the excitement of election night 2008.  She describes the crowds in Chicago, waiting for results, wearing shirts and buttons with the words "hope" and "change" -- as she says, "He called himself a "skinny guy with a funny name". Could he win the presidency?" (p.7) The author continues to tell Obama's story in an engaging but straightforward fashion that brings the president's story alive to young readers.

Barack Obama contains several features that are very helpful for young readers who are new to a subject.  There are many photos that support each section of the book which allows youth to see history as real occurrences rather than made up or (worse!) boring stories.  At the end of the book there is a timeline, a short description of individuals that influenced Obama's life and a great "Living History" section which provides links to primary sources that are mentioned in the text.

Barack Obama: Son of Promise, Child of Hope is a picture book written in the months prior to the 2008 election, focusing on the character of Barack Obama and the forces that formed it.  Told from the perspective of an African American mother who is telling her son about Obama, the book traces Obama's life story from his beginnings as the child of a multi-racial couple to a young man determined to bring people together.  The book is an extremely positive representation of Obama, showing him as a man full of hope and a desire for equity and healing.  The author attempts to look into Obama's psyche (in a way that is understandable to young readers) to show that he is both a product of his diverse background and his determination to find his own way.  By the end of the book, readers will be very excited by the hope that Obama represented to the people in 2008 and the excitement and pride that accompanied the upcoming election of the first African American president.

Biographies are a genre in which an author's bias may easily be expressed, even if the bias is not obvious.  The trend in biographies for youth tends towards a positive representation of the subject except in the case of clearly evil people such as Hitler.  Keeping this in mind, I'd say that most children's biographies are biased in that fashion. In the case of these two books, we must look at the authors and sources to determine if they are among the best resources.  Barack Obama lists several print, online and primary sources as the resources used in the writing of the book.  This would support using this book as a good source in research.  In Barack Obama: Son of Promise, Child of Hope, the author mentions one source (Obama's memoir, Dreams from My Father) and admits to "artistic license" in the text.  This does not exclude the latter book as a good book, but does exclude it as a book that might be used in a research project.

Barack Obama by Jennifer Zeiger would be appropriate for readers in grades 3-5 and would be a great resource for a research project.

Barack Obama: Son of Promise, Child of Hope is most appropriate as a Pre-K/Kindergarten read-aloud or for 1st and 2nd graders to read to themselves.