Beckham Publications Group to Release Kid’s Letters to President Obama

(SANEPR.com) April 15, 2009 -- : Beckham Publications announced its release of a landmark collection of letters and drawings from kids ages four to 18. “Dear President Obama: Letters of Hope from Children Across America,” a full-color large format paperback trade book compiled and edited by journalists Bruce Kluger and David Tabatsky with a foreword by Linda Ellerbee, has a publication date of April 7, 2009.

An online press kit with sample pages and audio-video presentations are available at www.obamakids.beckhamhouse.com.

Kluger and Tabatsky started the project after the 2008 election by emailing a few friends to see if their kids wanted to say something to the president-elect. Those friends wrote others, and within six weeks more than 1,000 letters were submitted. The 179 children selected are from a wide variety of backgrounds--representing Manhattan private schools and poor school districts in Nebraska, 29 states, and every region of the country.

“Despite their differences, their letters are uniformly inspirational,” says Kluger. They express their hopes, fears, and dreams about the world. They exhibit boundless excitement about the historic election, and David and I wanted to recapture that spirit.”

Says publisher Barry Beckham, “I heard about the project from a parent, and was astounded when I first saw these wonderful letters highlighted by the gorgeous color layouts.” He adds, “I told the editors that they had assembled a ground-breaking anthology of letters to President Obama. It will truly be a collector’s item, and it’s a testament to the great promise of our future generations.”

Linda Ellerbee, who wrote the foreword, says, "They believe they can change their world. They understand citizenship and want to participate. And that is the kind of honesty you will find in this book.”

Please visit the editors’ site at www.obamakids.us.

Bruce Kluger (www.brucekluger.com) is a writer, columnist and commentator whose work appears nationwide in newspapers and magazines and on the Internet. A member of the Board of Contributors of USA Today, Kluger is also a regular contributor to Parenting magazine, National Public Radio, The Los Angeles Times and The Huffington Post.

David Tabatsky (www.tabatsky.com) is the co-author of Chicken Soup for the Soul: The Cancer Book: 101 Stories of Courage, Support & Love (March 2009). He was consulting editor for Marlo Thomas’s The Right Words at the Right Time, Volume 2: Your Turn (Atria Books).

Linda Ellerbee is an award-winning television producer, best-selling author, and one of the most sought-after speakers in America. She is producer of Nick News, watched by more children than watch all other television news shows put together.

The Beckham Publications Group, Inc. is the Internet's foremost source of multi-cultural and cutting-edge titles, as well as a leader in joint-venture publishing and self-publishing assistance.

Bruce Kluger and David Tabatsky, Dear President Obama: Letters of Hope from Children Across America; foreword by Linda Ellerbee; 120 pp; paperback; 8.5 X 11; ISBN 978-0-9823876-1-0; $19.95; publication date: April 7, 2009; distributed by Ingram and online sites like Amazon

Contact:
Nicole Gray
Beckham Publications Group, Inc.
PO Box 4066
Silver Spring, MD 20914
Phone: (301) 384-7995
Fax (866)-659-3306

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