Dear President Obama

As President Obama prepares for his 100-day report card, pundits everywhere are in overdrive. We think they could do worse than to judge the president against the expectations of his youngest constituents. Back in November, we began collecting letters to Obama from kids across the nation, to compile as a book. We e-mailed a handful of friends in search of letters from their children. Those friends forwarded the e-mail to their friends, and within four weeks, we were sitting on more than 1,000 letters and drawings from children, ages 4 to 18, from 29 states and every region of the country. Talk about your embarrassment of riches.

By Bruce Kluger and David Tabatsky

April 23, 2009