AMAZON
Regency Kids
3/19/18 || 9781621577768
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By
Charlotte Pence
Illustrated by Karen Pence
A
Day in the Life of The Vice President by Charlotte Pence
and illustrated by Karen Pence is a welcome relief.
Readers of all ages are able to learn something and
to just enjoy an entertaining story. It is a book for
all ages.
Charlotte,
the daughter of Vice-President Pence stated, “I
have always been a fan of children’s books and
writing for children has been a passion of mine. I brain
stormed with my mom and we decided the first book should
be on the role of the VP. My vision was to make an educational
book on the duties of the Vice-President. We even put
in a resource section in the back listing what is done.”
The
duties are emphasized through a rabbit’s eyes,
the second families pet, Marlon Bundo. It is apropos
that this book comes out just before the Easter holiday.
After all, the Easter Bunny is a folkloric figure and
symbol. Charlotte explains how Marlon became a national
celebrity like previous hares, Bugs Bunny and Peter
Rabbit to name a few. “When we moved out to D.C.,
we brought him, the first bunny ever to ride on Air
Force Two. As we were bringing him off that plane, I
think that’s when a lot of media saw that we had
a bunny, and that became a big story, especially after
people found out his name. There was such a level of
excitement.”
How
did the name come about? Charlotte needed a bunny for
a short movie she was making while a film student at
DePaul University. “I ended up going on Craig’s
list. The owner told me to make him an offer. It became
a Godfather joke with my friend who suggested we name
him Marlon Brando. I thought we had to put the pun in
there so I named him Marlon Bundo.”
The
Second Lady, Mrs. Pence told of how the press was enamored
with Marlon. “Marlon has become very popular.
He now has 17,000 followers on Instagram. He brings
people together from all different viewpoints. Because
Marlon became a sensation we decided to use him to explain
the Vice-President’s duties. We never had an agenda.”
She
also explained that the Pences had rabbits as pets throughout
the years. “We had rabbits even before we had
children. They are easy pets to have and can even be
potty trained. They are very tame. Maybe we will be
able to expand the bunny population as pets in this
country. Marlon is friendly and lives with us in the
observatory, where the second family resides. He is
cuddly and will follow you around like a dog when out
of his cage.”
What
can people learn from Marlon about the Vice-President’s
duties? A few lines in the book, “But, the most
important meeting is first. That’s the one with
the president!” Mrs. Pence told of how Mike Pence
and “the President have a very close working relationship.
Besides having meetings, they speak on the phone once
or twice a day. He goes down to the Oval Office frequently.
The office of the VP is shaped by the President, and
changes over the course of a term, including what should
be the focus of the Vice-President’s attention.”
Readers
will discover that VP Pence has three offices. According
to Mrs. Pence, “The one in the Oval Office is
where he does his work. The one in the Eisenhower Executive
Office Building is ceremonial. He uses it for receptions
and might meet with people because there is a large
conference room. He also has a small office in the Senate.
But he is not there frequently because he only comes
over when there is a need for a tie breaking vote. I
think there have been nine, close to the record of thirteen.”
Everyone knows a lot about the President’s residence,
but in this book, they can learn about the Vice-President’s
home at the Naval Observatory. At the top is a dome
with a giant telescope where the second family can look
out at the stars. During the eclipse, VP Pence invited
children to the observatory to view it along with him.
Interestingly,
none of the illustrations have the Vice-President’s
face. Mrs. Pence explained how she came about to illustrate
the book in that way, “I was an art education
minor in school and actually taught art in an elementary
school. I found I loved painting homes and I was able
to do some custom works of art. Everybody seems to comment
on the fact that the Vice-President’s face is
not prevalent. When I was painting homes, I found people
are really particular about getting right the nuances
of their houses. I realized that painting a human face
would be even more difficult. I decided then not to
paint faces, which is why there are no faces in this
book.”
Sometimes
it can be harrowing to work with a parent. Charlotte
recounts “That was not the case. It was a lot
of fun, and I saw it as a mother/daughter thing to do,
where we were able to be very collaborative. For each
frame, we worked on it together.” Mrs. Pence elaborated,
“There were times Charlotte would send me a stanza
and I would ask her to rewrite a line or shift something
around. For example, in the book, there is a line about
seeing the Washington Monument from the ceremonial office.
Originally Charlotte wrote it as seeing the Jefferson
Monument. Charlotte wrote out the whole book first and
then I would ask her to make some changes because it
was based on how I could frame the picture or where
to place Marlon. It was more of a re-working.”
Besides
learning some fun facts, people should purchase this
book because some of the proceeds will go to great charities.
Charlotte told of how she is working with an organization,
A21. It creates awareness of human trafficking, helps
survivors, and is also an information center. Mrs. Pence
is donating to the Riley Hospital For Children in Indianapolis
where she was the past honorary chair for their art
fair and on their board. She is also giving a portion
to Tracy’s Kids, an art therapy program for children
with cancer.
This is a fun book for all Americans regardless of their
political affiliation. With all the divisiveness in
this country, this book, and Marlon, in particular,
should help people come together. After all, who can’t
love a cute bunny that is non-partisan.
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