Obama children’s book due out in November

President Obama, who has worked to shield his children from the spotlight, has a children’s book coming out this fall, framed as a letter to his daughters.

Aides to Obama say the president and first lady aren’t worried that the book will foist the girls into the public eye because it is not about them, but rather a tribute to 13 Americans and their commitment to the nation.

The Obamas intend to continue protecting the privacy of their daughters, Malia and Sasha, according to White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs. The girls rarely take part in official events, and the White House discourages media coverage of their comings and goings.

“Our encouragement is to keep their private lives private,” Gibbs said Wednesday. The volume is “an inspirational book about the country they live in and about their ability and the ability for children throughout this country to dream … to dream big and accomplish whatever they want to.”

“Of Thee I Sing: A Letter to My Daughters” is an illustrated book, a slim volume written by Obama, according to its publisher, Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Random House Children’s Books. The book is due out Nov. 16.

The manuscript, part of a three-volume deal Obama signed after his election to the Senate in 2004, was completed before he was sworn in as president. It is being marketed as a “moving tribute” to groundbreaking Americans, among them artist Georgia O’Keeffe, baseball great Jackie Robinson and President George Washington.

Illustrated by bestselling artist Loren Long, the book will carry a retail price of $17.99, with a first run of 500,000 copies. Proceeds will go to a scholarship fund for children of dead and disabled troops.

cparsons@latimes.com