I'm not a parent, but if I was, this would be a book I'd share with my children to help them understand the character of the man running for President. The illustrations are sweet pencil drawings from well known photographs... and some not so well known of John McCain and family. The narrative is short and sweet for any child of 5 or 6 to be able to read and understand for the most part.
McCain's well known prisoner of war experience is not glossed over, but it is not gruesome. You do not see faces of angry Vietcong that attacked him in the water or anything that would frighten children or the like. I think the book does a fair representation of the man, his character and his family's hope that he is successful in the 2008 election.
My less than perfect review is because the book is lacking. To rise above just being a propaganda-for-kiddos book, I would have really liked to have read a cute story that Meghan McCain (the author, and eldest daughter of Senator McCain) remembered about her father as a child - perhaps teaching her to ride a bike, fly a kite, or staying with her when she was sick or something. I think it would make the book not even more relevant to children who are clearly the audience for this book, but also for adults who read it with or to their kids - to get a feel for the man behind the sometimes sandpaper exterior.
Senator McCain has said himself that he will win no awards for Miss Congeniality. He can't come off as a sap or a softy in commercials or in interviews - but this book would have been a great opportunity to include some of his sweeter side for public consumption. I hope that no matter how the election turns out, that the author will update this book, including more pictures and stories of growing up the child of a Senator. The book is about John McCain, but the title is "My Dad, John McCain." I don't know a lot about Meghan other than she was born in 1984, is the eldest daughter of John & Cindy McCain and that she wrote this book. I don't have any idea if her father ever took her and her siblings to Six Flags or Disney World, or if they ever went on a family vacation or anything relevant concerning a father-daughter relationship other than he is her father and there's a sweet illustration on the cover of him holding her as a child and another one that is a graduation photo illustration.
This is a nicely illustrated, well done first book for such a young author, but it could be so much better and has a lot of potential to be improved if it is revised and updated after the election. It is very dated, even with the date "September 2008" cited in there. This story will have more of a shelf life if it is updated and made into a timeless children's book.
