Our Enduring Spirit: President Barack Obama's First Words to America
speech by Barack Obama, illustrated by Greg Ruth, 2009. New York: HarperCollins Publishing. (0061834556).
Author Website: none
Media: ink and watercolor
Awards and Honors: none
Annotation:
Illustrator Greg Ruth's pictorial representation of President Barack Obama's inaugural address to the people of the United States.
Personal Reaction:
Our Enduring Spirit is a simple book; it's little more than an abridged version of President Obama's inaugural address accompanied by black and white sketches on color splashed pages. The book was born when Artist Greg Ruth decided to start a "drawing-a-week" project that he called the 52 Weeks Project. Every Monday, for a year, he would create a drawing and post it on his website. Barack Obama's historic election happened to take place within that year, and Ruth was so moved by it that he began creating portraits of the new president. An editor at HarperCollins took notice, and the idea for the book was formed. It's a nice idea, but the book falls flat. Other artists have successfully created illustrated versions of famous speeches (I Have a Dream, Dr. King's famous speech illustrated by Coretta Scott King award winning artists comes to mind), but Ruth's illustrations don't do President Obama's words justice.
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