She wakes one morning at her home in Washington DC and decides to undertake a very special project. After seeing the litter on the streets of her city and the playground of her school, she realises that this is what she needs to talk to President Barack Obama about in a letter. A very determined young lady, Ella even gets annoyed with her best friend Chloe when she teases “Don’t be silly Ella. Don’t you know that the President is a very busy man? Do you think that he has time to read a letter from a third grader?” Ella’s resolute response being “This is important to me Chloe. I believe that my letter can make a difference.”

As she struggles to compose her letter, Ella’s mother advises her “You don’t need to sound like an adult to be heard. Speak honestly from your heart. The President understands children. He is an intelligent man with two young daughters of his own. You have nothing to worry about.”

The nuclear family depicted in the book may feel a little contrived to some parents reading the story. The mother cooks the meals (whilst sporting an apron), the father goes out to work, the younger brother cares only about sport and food. Despite this, the message of the book is a sound one – Ella sagely tells her brother “He is the President! Every decision he makes affects children in one way or another.”

Quirkily illustrated with bright colours and depictions of multi-racial children, each page gives us the opportunity to talk about various issues with our children. Ella is very keen to address the environmental problems she is seeing but the underlying theme of the book is that children should be heard as well as seen. Ella’s finished letter to President Obama can be seen in all it’s 8 year old charm and the author has succeeded in making the finished letter believable by including questions that any girl of Ella’s age would want to know the answer to such as “What is your favourite ice cream flavour?”.

The appeal of this book lies in the surety that Ella has that she can make a difference and that her letter to the President is the way to start her campaign. Parallels can be drawn to how the American people feel about their new President and the renewed hope for the future that his election has given to their country and to the World.

Written by Jane Wilson.

Washington, DC, May 27, 2009 --(PR.com)-- Budding children’s author Lana Dajani will read and sign her debut work entitled My Letter to President Obama at 2 PM, Saturday May 30th on Georgetown University’s Copley Lawn. Dajani, a 2004 Georgetown alum, will read and sign her first book during the All-Class Family Picnic on the occasion of the university’s annual Alumni Weekend.

My Letter to President Barack Obama is a story about a 8 year-old girl named Ella who shows that children everywhere can express their opinions on important issues. The book was released on May 6th by Twenty Stories Publishing, LLC.

Twenty Stories Publishing is a full service publishing company dedicated to the promotion of young authors, artists, poets and photographers from all walks of life. Through an interactive publishing process, Twenty Stories Publishing enables young adults to share their ideas, experiences and creative expression with a global audience. The company was recently featured on the renowned pop culture website Daily Candy: http://www.dailycandy.com/washington_dc/article/42771/Drop+and+Gimme+Twenty

In addition to seeking submissions of prose, poetry, artwork and photography for ongoing collaborative projects and collections of creative works, Twenty Stories Publishing also welcomes full-length manuscript submissions across a wide range of genres, including:

Collections (Art, Photograph, Poetry and/or Short Stories)
Children’s books
Creative nonfiction
Novels

Too bad you and your soapbox give off an air that’s more hooligan than Hemingway.

Take your genius to the next level with some help from Twenty Stories Publishing. The new local publisher showcases work that might otherwise fall into the black hole of the corporate book world.

The staff works with everything from poetry to photography and can tailor services to accommodate the author’s needs. A la carte options include copyediting and a marketing plan. The full monty includes consulting, editing, design, printing, and distribution — with terms that would thrill a struggling artist.

In addition to accepting unsolicited manuscripts, Twenty Stories welcomes submissions for its anthologies (the first covered twentysomethings’ experiences).

So lather up that creative genius.