By Donald H. Harrison
SAN DIEGO — Last month there was a brief kerfuffle when a copy of Vice President Kamala Harris’ book for children, Superheroes Are Everywhere, was spotted among materials being handed out to migrant children at the Long Beach Convention Center. There was only one copy that someone had donated, but the New York Post mistakenly reported that the book was being given to all the children.
Subsequently, that newspaper retracted the story, but not before other right-wing media jumped on it including Fox News. Its White House reporter asked if Harris was profiting from purchases of the book. Jen Psaki, the White House Press Secretary, said she was unaware of the situation, but would check with the Department of Health and Human Services which operates the shelters for unaccompanied minors. Soon afterwards, the New York Post retracted the story. In the meantime, some Republican politicians, always ready to find fault with the Biden administration, ladled out some unwarranted criticism of Harris.
I wondered what the book had to say, so I reserved via Internet a copy from the San Diego Public Library. There were several library patrons ahead of me, so I knew it would take awhile for the book to arrive at my branch. When it did come, I received an email notice, explaining that the branch was closed for regular business during the continuing coronavirus pandemic, but that it had “pick-up only” service in its parking lot. The way it works is that when you arrive at the parking lot you use your cellphone to call a posted number. The librarian who answers asks you for the ID number on your library card, along with some other questions for identification, and then brings the reserved books outside to be picked up. The librarian who came out and I both were masked. In the event that a patron does not have a cell phone, he or she can approach the security guard, who will ask the librarian to come outside and take down your information.
Once home, I quickly devoured the 26 pages of text which were complemented with illustrations drawn by Mechal Renee Roe. The book, published in 2019 when Harris still was a U.S. senator from California, might be described primarily as a memoir of Harris’ childhood, with the “superheroes” in her life being people whose actions were positive influences on her. For example, Harris’ mother taught her how to prepare different recipes, making her feel special in the process. “Heroes make you feel special,” Harris instructs her readers. Her sister, Maya, was her constant companion, and someone she could always depend upon. “Heroes are people you can count on,” Harris advises.
Other members of her family as well as friends were the subjects of such observations as “Heroes make you feel brave”; “Heroes stand up for what’s right”; “Heroes are best friends”; “Heroes are teachers”; “Heroes are kind;” “Heroes explore with you;” Heroes work hard;” “Heroes protect people”; “Heroes make a difference together” and, with a reflective image for a child reader to look into, “Heroes are … You!”
The book also offers children a “hero code,” which reminded me of the oath I took so very long ago as a Cub Scout. To follow the “hero code,” children promise to “make people feel special, be someone people can count on, help people be brave, stand up for what’s right, be a best friend, be a good teacher, be kind, explore with my friends and family, study and work hard, protect people who need it, make a difference when I can” and finally “to be the very best me I can be!”
Superheroes Are Everywhere thereby models for children a series of positive behaviors while familiarizing their parents or grandparents who read aloud to them with some of the basics of Harris’ biography, complete with an appendix listing major events in her life from October 20, 1964 when she was born to January 3, 2017 when she was sworn in as a U.S. senator.
In the year 2014, she noted, “I married Douglas Emhoff. (He is also a lawyer!)” As many people know today, the nation’s first Second Gentleman is also a member of the Jewish community.
*
Donald H. Harrison is editor of San Diego Jewish World. He may be contacted via donald.harrison@sdjewishworld.com