Obama-Penned Children’s Book Due in November

To fulfill a 3-book contract for his publisher before taking office in January 2009, President Barack Obama finished writing a children’s book, an illustrated tribute to 13 American leaders.

Unveiled this week, Of Thee I Sing: A Letter to My Daughters, has already rocketed into the top of the Amazon.com charts, two months before its scheduled release.

With a whimsical cover featuring his two girls walking Bo, the family dog, proceeds from the thin tome are to go to a scholarship fund for the children of soldiers killed and disabled in wars.  

The 13 chosen Americans include George Washington, baseball hero Jackie Robinson and painter Georgia O’Keefe.

Random House Children’s Books plans a first printing of 500,000 copies.