Brother Sister Love Stories

Children's book by Obama's half sister bridges generations

Maya Soetoro-Ng is cited frequently throughout a new and much discussed biography of Ann Dunham, the woman who was mother to both Soetoro-Ng and her half-brother, U.S. President Barack Obama.

The 40-year-old, Indonesian-born educator, who was 25 years old when her mother died at the age of 52, allows that her perusal of A Singular Woman by journalist Janny Scott has been selective.

“As my students like to say, it is TMI: Too much information,” says Soetoro-Ng, who teaches at the University of Hawaii and has just published a book of her own, the children’s story Ladder to the Moon . “It was more than I was equipped to ingest. I couldn’t read the book in a methodical way. I had to skim.

“(Scott) did a tremendous amount of research. I did learn things. But it was painful for me in some ways, because I felt so sad not having her around, because I wanted to ask her questions and also because there were things I really didn’t need to know.”

In A Singular Woman , Dunham is portrayed as an unconventional, determined woman who not only raised two accomplished children — in the case of Obama, with significant help from his maternal grandparents — but also had a substantial career of her own as an anthropologist and a microcredit pioneer. Like everyone, however, Dunham had her foibles. One, a fear of doctors, might have been a factor in her death, at a relatively early age, of cancer.

“Mom had an extraordinary life, but she lived it in an ordinary way,” says Soetoro-Ng, during a Tuesday interview at the Toronto offices of publisher Random House. “So it ends up being a character study of how all of us shape our lives out of what we are given and how each of us makes use of opportunities in our own journey. That’s what’s probably good about the book.”

Dunham also features prominently in Ladder to the Moon . The book, launched in the U.S. in April with a reported initial print run of 200,000 copies, is Soetoro-Ng’s effort to forge a connection between her eldest daughter, 7-year-old Suhaila, and the grandmother she would never have a chance to meet.

The story’s two principal characters, Suhaila and Grandma Annie, take a fantastical trip to the moon. The journey stresses the kind of human interconnectedness that was integral to Dunham’s worldview.

“Suhaila really loves that her name is in there. What kid wouldn’t?” says Soetoro-Ng. “But I think she does feel a connection with Grandma Annie as a result of the book and also as a result of the stories that preceded the book. I’ve shown her lots of actual photographs and told her many times how Mom would have been very proud of her and would have enjoyed her.

Connie Arnold , Children's Author: Brother Sister Poetry

It is my pleasure to share this post for Day 4 of Kathy Stemke's Book Tour for her new picture book, Sh Sh Sh Let the Baby Sleep , published by Guardian Angel Publishing. Be sure to visit Kathy's blog to learn more about her tour and some exciting contests and prizes. Remember to leave a comment to enter the prize drawings! Here is my review of the book, followed by Kathy's poems and more information about her. , Kathy Stemke tells a story that children, especially those who have younger siblings, can relate to. Zachary's life takes a drastic change when a baby sister enters it. He puts on his special glasses and uses his creative imagination to become a superhero and quiet all the wild and noisy commotions that disturb her sleep. Each page of this delightful book is filled with bold, colorful illustrations by Jack Foster and has cute rhymes, which add to the fun. As an added bonus, there are games, word puzzles, a song, and rhymes at the end of the book. It's a great book for home and the classroom.

Short stories, selected by J.M. Lainé

Museum of foreign literature, science and art

A Love Story

Sister Brother, Gertrude and Leo Stein

This Thing Called Love a Brother/Sister Story