WISCONSINREPORT.COM (12/09/2010) - The latest book by United States President Barack Obama, Of Thee I Sing, was printed by a Stevens Point, Wisconsin company. Worzalla Publishing of Stevens Point printed the Random House book dedicated to the daughters of President and Michelle Obama. The printing arrangement by the Central Wisconsin company included secrecy and security. Many Worzalla staff members didn't know what they were working on the book until recently. The book, for sale in stores and on the internet, is illustrated by Loren Long.

Random House Publicity for the President's book indicates it is a "tender, beautiful letter to his daughters", and "a moving tribute to thirteen groundbreaking Americans and the ideals that have shaped our nation".

From the artistry of Georgia O'Keeffe, to the courage of Jackie Robinson, to the patriotism of George Washington, President Obama sees the traits of those heroes within his own children, and within all of America’s children.

"Breathtaking, evocative illustrations by award-winning artist Loren Long at once capture the personalities and achievements of these great Americans and the innocence and promise of childhood," according to a Random House spokesperson.

This beautiful book celebrates the characteristics that unite all Americans, from the nation’s founders to generations to come. It is about the potential within each of us to pursue our dreams and forge our own paths.

President Obama is donating his proceeds from "Of Thee I Sing" to a scholarship fund for children of disabled and fallen soldiers.

The book contains 40 pages, most of which shows the illustrative work of two-time Golden Kite award winner and New York Times Number 1 bestselling illustrator Loren Long.

Loren Long is an artist straight from the heart of America. Born in Joplin, Missouri, and raised in Lexington, Kentucky, Long is a storyteller in pictures who draws on his roots to depict a soulful American landscape peopled with imaginative characters who take on mythic, even heroic, dimensions .

Long graduated from the University of Kentucky with a BA in Graphic Design/Art Studio and went on to do graduate studies at the American Academy of Art in Chicago. For a time he was an illustrator at the Gibson Greeting Card Company in Cincinnati.

Long gained recognition as an editorial illustrator for numerous magazines and newspapers in the 1990s, most notably Forbes, Time, Atlantic Monthly, and Sports Illustrated. He began illustrating book covers for Harper Collins, Penguin, Houghton Mifflin, and the National Geographic Society.

In 1999 Long was commissioned to paint a grand-scale mural for a restaurant in Lincoln, Nebraska.

Loren Long's many credits include Watty Piper's classic "The Little Engine That Could," Randall de Seve's "Toy Boat" and Madonna's "Mr. Peabody's Apples."

Long wrote and illustrated the children's stories "Otis" and "Drummer Boy."

The cover design for "Of Thee I Sing" is a sunny impression of presidential daughters Sasha and Malia Obama walking their dog, Bo, along a grassy field.

President Obama agreed with Random House in 2004 to write a children's book, which, according to the publisher, he completed before he became president. "Of Thee I Sing" is part of a $1.9 million, three-book deal with Random House reached in 2004, according to a disclosure report filed in 2005, when Obama was a U.S. senator from Illinois. The other two books were nonfiction.

Worzalla Publishing has been involved in quality book manufacturing since 1892. The company is 100 percent employee owned.

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