Photo via mike.julianne on FlickrLast summer Congress passed the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (CPSIA). While well intentioned, being primarily a result of the toys being made with in China with lead paint scare that swept the country, CPSIA has potential catastrophic consequences for the book world. What's the problem? Any book printed before 1986 becomes illegal in the hands of children.Author David Niall Wilson sums it up nicely in his post, Burning Books for Consumer Safety:Under this law...very strict testing is imposed on every children’s book published before 1985 (It really did start in 1984 Mr. Orwell…right...
Obama’s First Storytime
photo from Getty/APPresident Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama made a surprise visit to the Capital City Public Charter School in Washington, D.C. today to read to the kids.They read from The Moon Over Star an account of the Apollo 11 moon landing in 1969.The picture book was written by Dianna Hutts Aston and is illustrated by Jerry Pickney. It was published by Dial Books for Young Readers in 2008.Here is a video of the visit:Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy
Obama Retakes Oath and Breaks Another Barrier
Photo by Pete Souza, White House / MCTErrata -When President William McKinley was assassinated in 1901 Teddy Roosevelt took a rushed oath of office without a Bible present. There's also no concrete evidence that presidents John Adams through John Tyler used a Bible at all for the oath. For more on oaths, bibles and presidents see Noreen Malone's piece at Slate.Here is Chief Justice John Roberts and Barack Obama in Round 2 of the swearing in ceremony. Both had minor stumbles during Round 1 at the inauguration so a re-do was called for in the White House Map Room.In my...
The Bibles of the Inauguration
Photo by Doug Mills/The New York TimesObama went with the Lincoln Bible. It is the 1853 Oxford University Press edition and has a red velvet cover with golden trim. It measures about 6" long, 4" wide and less than 2" thick.AP Photo/Mark WilsonBiden went with the monster family bible that has been part of the Biden family since 1893. It is at least 5 inches thick with metal clasps and a Celtic cross.From Obama's Inaugural Address:"On this day, we come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn-out dogmas that for far too...
The Bush vs. Rove Reading Challenge
Errata:Thanks to Adrianne's comment below for informing me that the photo I refer to below of Bush holding a book upside down is not authentic. The details of this doctored image and the original image are discussed at snopes.comMy apologies for the error.In his latest weekly op-ed piece for the Wall Street Journal, "Bush is a Book Lover", Karl Rove shares his thoughts on George W. Bush's reading life.There is a myth perpetuated by Bush critics that he would rather burn a book than read one. Like so many caricatures of the past eight years, this one is not only...