Things have changed quite a bit since I first published this article. My recommendation in this originally, was to go to your local library and check out these great books by Rush Limbaugh. Well…with all the things going on recently, that recommendation has changed.

My daughter is now an avid reader like my son was (and still is), and she is on her last book from our local library that we had checked out before all this craziness with the Corona Virus. Once she finishes this book, we will have to start ordering some online or borrowing from friends, because our local library is now closed and we don’t know when it will re-open.

This morning, I ordered her a Kindle for Kids from Amazon. I’m excited about this, and I hope she will be too. I mean, after all, it does come with a pink cover. It’s not a book, and I understand that there is something very special about a real book in your hands, but there are so many services now that allow you to check out a book via e-readers.

I’ll let you know how it goes and how she feels about it. But I’m desperate to keep her reading, so this is my answer. For now. At least until our library opens up again. Here’s hoping that’s sooner, rather than later.

When my Mom first told me that I needed to check out or buy one of the new Rush Limbaugh books for Zach, I worried that she might be losing her mind.  Rush Limbaugh?  A children’s author?  I think not…  It just sounded wrong to me – didn’t make sense.  She kept insisting and just kept saying “these books are perfect for Zach.”  

So one afternoon when we were at the bookstore, she showed them to me.  The cover was sort of strange.  It showed a caricature type picture of Rush Limbaugh, but on the body of an early american dressed in colonial attire and his head was really large – I just couldn’t picture my son reading this book!  I totally judged the book by its cover.  Big mistake…

But…my Mom did not give up, and at her insistence, I picked it up and read the summary on the back of the book.  Basically, it’s the story of a substitute history teacher named Rusty, whose friends call him Rush Revere, because of his obsession with Paul Revere.  He considers himself a tour guide across time because he has access to a magic portal.

 So, along with his talking horse named Liberty, he can take you back in time to any historical event to experience it first-hand.  In this first book, he takes you back to the Mayflower in 1620.  Sounds pretty interesting, right?  And if you can get your child to read a historical fiction book and they enjoy it, that’s a pretty great accomplishment.  Don’t you think?

The book was published back in 2013, and it won him the Author of the Year Award at the Children’s Choice Book Awards in 2014.  In case you’re not sure who Rush Limbaugh is, he is the host of The Rush Limbaugh Show—the nation’s highest-rated conservative talk radio program, with an audience of more than twenty million.  

And surprisingly, he is now a #1 New York Times bestselling author of Rush Revere and the Brave Pilgrims, Rush Revere and the First Patriots, Rush Revere and the Star-Spangled Banner, and Rush Revere and the American Revolution.

When I told my Mom that I had decided to blog about this, she expressed some concern that it might upset some people that I’m writing about Rush Limbaugh.  “Are you sure that’s a good idea?  You might really irritate some people,” she told me.  

Apparently, he causes quite a few controversies with the topics he discusses on his radio talk-show.  Rush’s website describes him as “America’s Truth Detector; the Doctor of Democracy; the Most Dangerous Man in America; the All-Knowing, All-Sensing, All-Everything Maha Rushie; defender of motherhood, protector of fatherhood and an all-around good guy.”

Now…I did not read the first book Rush Revere and the Brave Pilgrims (yet), but I’m intrigued after reading a few chapters aloud with Zach.  Since I missed some of the book, I decided to check out the website for this series of books at www.RushRevere.com.  It was quite impressive!  The website is very patriotic, with an entire section devoted to a Patriot of the Month. The website encourages kids to read and learn, to be charitable, and most importantly, to be patriotic.

It also talks about Two If By Tea – the small business Rush and his wife created.  They both loved iced-tea and wanted to understand the challenges faced by American small business owners, so they decided to start this business and have it all manufactured in the United States so they could help create some jobs, as well as a great product.  They decided on the name “Two If By Tea” to honor the great American patriot, Paul Revere.  Some of the bottles of the tea feature Rush Revere (the main characters in his books) with his horse, Liberty.

The website describes his first book this way… “Rush Limbaugh wrote Rush Revere and the Brave Pilgrims, the first in his children’s adventure series, to make American history fun! The book begins aboard the Mayflower and follows the Pilgrims through their first winter in the New World.   American history teacher Rush Revere time-travels with two young students to see American history first-hand.  

Always riding along with him is his trusty talking horse Liberty, who is hungry for knowledge –and food!  Come along with the time-traveling adventure crew as they build forts, sword fight, explore, speak with exceptional people like Squanto and William Bradford, and witness the first Thanksgiving.  There is so much to learn!  Join Rush Revere on the first adventure!  Rush Revere and the Brave Pilgrims also includes beautiful full color illustrations and original documents from the period.”

The section of his website that I was really drawn to was the Patriotic Book Club.   I love anything that encourages children in their reading.  When you play the short video of Rush Limbaugh explaining the book club, he tells viewers that they want to hear from all of their readers.  

They encourage kids to send in book reports of books from the book club list, or other great books they’ve read.  If you do send a book report in, you might even win a prize.  Makes me want to write a book report and send it in!  The list is of books for this book club is quite broad, and it changes as they find new books to add.  It ranges from A Wrinkle in Time to From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler  to  Beezus and Ramona.  The list seems to have something for everyone.

So if you are looking for a book for your children, or something to read with your children, I highly recommend this series.  The illustrations, as stated above, are amazing.  It includes original artwork, as well as some pictures of actual historical documents.  Very impressive.  

And I’m so happy to say that as I was gathering information for this article, my son Zach started his second book,  Rush Revere and the Star-Spangled Banner.  These must be pretty popular, because this was the only book left in our public library!  

So go visit your library or local bookstore and pick up one of these books.  You will not be sorry!  Let me know what you and/or your kids think of them.  Until next time…