Introducing Revolutionary Readers for America's 250th

5 new patriotic children's books available for pre-order, release Memorial Day, May 27. These are dedicated to my mom, Judy Hampton.

Below is the introduction to my beautiful new patriotic children’s book series, Revolutionary Readers for America’s 250th! Each book is numbered to reflect the reading level. They are available for pre-order now and release on May 27, which is Memorial Day.

I dedicated this series to my mom, Judy Hampton, who passed away three days after Mother's Day in 2014. She loved to teach young children, and she would have loved these books.

#1 American Flag | #2 America the Beautiful | #3 The Pledge to the Flag | #4 My Country ‘Tis of Thee | #4 What’s True about the Red, White and Blue

Introduction

When I worked at the White House from 2001-03 as a webmaster, the White House photographers taught me about photo essays. They showed me how to place photographs in groups and sequences to convey different moods, emotions, or messages. As a result, I created numerous photo essays on the White House website chronicling the president’s travels abroad and at home.

The early 2000s was also an exciting technological age because communities around the nation were receiving broadband, which enabled websites to feature many images and web videos. This was before the era of social media as we know it today.

Yet, despite technological improvements in 2001, I still found myself frustrated as I could envision an original illustration in my mind but lacked the art skills and expertise with Photoshop to implement it. Now, more than 20 years later, the technology has arrived where image generation is possible with a few commands. The original images in this series, Revolutionary Readers for America’s 250th, combine the latest in image technology—AI image generation—with what I learned from the White House photographers about grouping images to convey a theme. Though I don’t endorse all of AI’s applications, I think it’s important to use aspects of this technology in a positive way.

The purpose of this series, however, is not to champion technology. The purpose is to take a few steps toward reversing a grim trend. Today, only 13 percent of 8th graders are proficient in American history. Clearly, children are not learning enough about America’s founding at a young age.

Likewise, few books in the “reading steps” genre feature patriotic content. Most of these books entertain children through stories of princesses or animated characters.

The purpose of this series, Revolutionary Readers for America’s 250th, is to give young children an opportunity to learn about their nation. The goal is to bring uplifting, patriotic, and historical content to young readers so that they may grow to love America and know America’s history. Through narration and inspiring images in these first four books, readers can discover America’s flag and the lyrics of patriotic songs, such as America the Beautiful and My Country ’Tis of Thee. They also feature a variety of children.

May you enjoy these books and learn something new about the USA along the way.

All the best,

Jane Hampton Cook

Janecook.com