''Dear Socks, Dear Buddy: Kids' Letters to the First Pets'' is a 1998

children's book Children's literature or juvenile literature includes stories, books, magazines, and poems that are created for children. Modern children's literature is classified in two different ways: genre or the intended age of the reader. Children's ...

written by First Lady of the United States

Hillary Rodham Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States senat ...

. It concerns the two pets that lived in the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in ...

during the Clinton administration, Socks the cat and Buddy the dog.

Description

The book includes more than 50 letters written to the First Pets by children and more than 80 photographs of Socks and Buddy. Examples of questions that letters asked include, "Who do you like best? Mr. Clinton? Mrs. Clinton or Chelsea?" and, "How do you like being a dog, Buddy? I like being a person." Socks was also asked if he was allowed to watch MTV and Buddy was asked if he ever got petted by the Spice Girls. The book also includes several sections of text by Clinton discussing the two pets' habits, as well as the rivalry between them. Clinton also provided a history of the previous pets that had lived in the White House. The text also dispensed some advice on caring for pets and told parents to encourage children to express themselves through writing. The last chapter of the book is titled "A Note on Saving America's Parks and Treasures".

History

The idea for the book originated with Clinton's publisher,

Simon & Schuster Simon & Schuster () is an American publishing company and a subsidiary of Paramount Global. It was founded in New York City on January 2, 1924 by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. As of 2016, Simon & Schuster was the third largest pu ...

, who were interested in a follow-up to Clinton's best-selling 1996 volume ''

It Takes a Village ''It Takes a Village: And Other Lessons Children Teach Us'' is a book published in 1996 by First Lady of the United States Hillary Rodham Clinton. In it, Clinton presents her vision for the children of America. She focuses on the impact individu ...

''. It also followed in the pawsteps of prior First Lady

Barbara Bush Barbara Pierce Bush (June 8, 1925 – April 17, 2018) was First Lady of the United States from 1989 to 1993, as the wife of President George H. W. Bush, and the founder of the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy. She previously w ...

's popular 1990 effort ''

Millie's Book ''Millie's Book: As Dictated to Barbara Bush'' is a 1990 Children's literature, children's book by Barbara Bush, written as if from the perspective of Millie (dog), Millie the English Springer Spaniel. Post-tax proceeds from book sales were donated ...

'', about the prior White House dog. Plans for ''Dear Socks, Dear Buddy'' were announced in June 1998 and it was stated that Linda Kulman, a reporter based in Washington, would assist Clinton in the writing. ''Book'' magazine would subsequently characterize Kulman's role as that of a

ghostwriter A ghostwriter is hired to write literary or journalistic works, speeches, or other texts that are officially credited to another person as the author. Celebrities, executives, participants in timely news stories, and political leaders often ...

. The book had a first printing put at somewhere between 400,000 and 500,000 copies. Its actual sales were around 350,000 copies. The book did not sell as well as ''It Takes a Village'' had, in part because the nature of the book was different and in part because Clinton did not engage in the same level of promotional activity for it. The book came out as the

Lewinsky scandal Monica Samille Lewinsky (born July 23, 1973) is an American activist and writer. President Bill Clinton admitted to having an affair with Lewinsky while she worked at the White House as an intern in 1995 and 1996. The affair, and its repercus ...

turned into the

impeachment of Bill Clinton Bill Clinton, the 42nd president of the United States, was impeached by the United States House of Representatives of the 105th United States Congress on December 19, 1998, for "high crimes and misdemeanors". The House adopted two articles ...

, which contributed to Clinton's lessened efforts in promoting the book.

Proceeds

Clinton received no advance for writing the book. All of her proceeds from book sales and related publishing rights were donated to the

National Park Foundation The National Park Foundation (NPF) is the official charity of the National Park Service (NPS) and its national park sites. The NPF was chartered by Congress in 1967 with a charge to "further the conservation of natural, scenic, historic, scientif ...

, the official charity of America's

National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational propert ...

. The publisher said it would donate some of its proceeds to the foundation as well. The foundation was given possession of the copyright to the book, which simplified the tax aspects related to awarding profits to the foundation, thus eliminating some complexities that Clinton had encountered in donating the proceeds of ''It Takes a Village''.

References

{{Hillary Rodham Clinton 1998 children's books American children's books American picture books Children's non-fiction books Letters (message) English-language books Works based on real people Books about cats Books about dogs Pets Children's books about friendship Fiction set in 1998 Books by Hillary Clinton Simon & Schuster books