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Letters to His Children


Theodore Roosevelt (1858 - 1919)

The strong, vigorous, exalted character of a doting father who loved playing with his children and their pets, even while serving as the President of the United States, stands revealed in this selection of letters he wrote his children throughout their school years. They shed light on the cheerful man who remained throughout his life as pure and gentle as the soul of a child, plus many little reveals that there were squirrels nesting in the presidential bedroom, rats in the basement, and children's pranks that damaged the White House artwork! Many of these letters are considered valuable guides for youth in all ranks of life, notably those on the relative merits of civil and military careers, and the proper proportions of sport and study. Only a short time before he died, Teddy Roosevelt said "I would rather have this book published than anything that has ever been written about me."

NOTE: Roosevelt gave titles to all his letters, and all letters in this audio collection are recorded in sequential order with their titles. Most are too short to be published as separate audio files, thus several have been combined in most cases.

Read by Multiple Readers

Run Time 4 Hours 47 Minutes in 4 Audio CDs

Section --- Chapter --- Run Time
1 00. Introduction - 09:10
2 01. In The Spanish War 1898 - Blessed Bunnies, Darling Ethel - 04:29
3 02. from Oyster Bay Dec 1900 - Youthful Bible Commentators, Fine Names For Guinea Pigs - 03:08
4 03. from Keystone Ranch Jan 1900 - A Cougar and Lynx Hunt, Dogs That Climb Trees, The Pig Named... - 07:29
5 04. from Oyster Bay May 1901 - Advice and News, Archie and Quentin - 06:19
6 05. Incidents of Homecoming, Oyster Bay, May 1901 - 03:12
7 06. Dear Little Miss Sarah - 01:26
8 07. Uncle Remus and White House Pets - 02:09
9 08. from White House Oct 1902 - The Dog Gem, and Presidential Nurse For Guinea Pigs - 02:04
10 09. Thanksgiving In The White House 1902 - 01:58
11 10. A White House Christmas 1902 - 03:48
12 11. Tom Quartz and Jack - 03:49
13 12. A Far Western Trip 1903 - 07:22
14 13. Loves and Sports of The Children - 03:58
15 14. A President At Play - 03:23
16 15. from Oyster Bay 1903 - To Ted On A Hunting Trip, End Of Summer At Oyster Bay - 03:17
17 16. White House Oct 1903 - 'Valuablest' Kind Of Rabbits, A Preaching Letter - 02:39
18 17. Proper Place For Sports, Concerning Getting 'Smashed' - 08:05
19 18. The Art of Uncle Remus, A Ride And A Pillow Fight - 03:31
20 19. Study and Play, Quentin's First Fall, Homesich For Sagamore Hill, Joy Over A Football Victory,... - 08:03
21 20. Quentin's Sixth Birthday - 01:36
22 21. A President's Poor Protection - 03:13
23 22. from White House 1904 - Ted's Sprained Ankle, The Supreme Christmas Joy, A Day With Juggler - 04:34
24 23. Merits of Military and Civil Life - 06:57
25 24. from White House Feb 1904 - Root and Taft, Senator Hanna's Death, Irritating Remark by Quentin - 04:51
26 25. Japanese Wrestling - 01:50
27 26. Love For The White House 1904 - 06:34
28 27. Charms Of Valley Forge, Washington's Companions At Valley Forge - 02:42
29 28. On The Eve Of Nomination for President 1904, Picture Letter, Bill The Lizard - 03:16
30 29. On The Eve Of Election - 03:47
31 30. Dec, Jan 1904 - Big Jim White, Winter Life In The White House, Playmate Of The Children, A... - 06:41
32 31. On Counting Days And Wrestling; Spring In Washington - 05:21
33 32. April, May 1905 - A Hunting Trip . . . Abernathy The Wolf Hunter . . . Prairie Girls . . .... - 08:31
34 33. Home Again With Skip, Skip In The White House, Officers of Togo's Fleet - 03:55
35 34. A President As Cook - 05:06
36 35. Quentin's Quaint Sayings - 02:02
37 36. Advice Regarding Newspaper Annoyances - 06:07
38 37. Incidents of a Southern Trip, Poets and Princes - 05:20
39 38. Novels and Games, Christmas Present To His Old Nurse - 04:47
40 39. Dickens and Thackeray, A Tribute To Archie - 04:37
41 40. Pillow Fights With The Boys, Sorrows Of Skip, 'An Interesting Circus Experience', A Big And... - 09:16
42 41. A Visit To Washington's Birthplace, More About Dickens - 05:30
43 42. No Place Like Sagamore Hill, Attic Delights, Presidential Rescue of a Kitten - 04:52
44 43. Sports of Quentin and Archie, Skip and Archie, A Turkey Hunt at Pine Knot - 04:07
45 44. On Board U. S. S. Louisiana on the Way to Panama November 1906 - Pets On Shipboard, Names of... - 09:00
46 45. What The President Saw at Panama - 08:54
47 46. On The Way To Porto Rico, What He Saw In Porto Rico - 09:27
48 47. Sickness of Archie, At the Jamestown Exposition, General Kuroki - 06:35
49 48. Temporary Absence Of Skip, Death of Skip, Quentin's Snake Adventure - 05:05
50 49. On Board U. S. S. Mississippi, October 1907 - Trials of a Traveling President, Changes of Three... - 09:54
51 50. The Lone Cat Of The Camp, Shooting The Bear - 06:27
52 51. Quentin's 'Exquisite Jest', Tom Pinch, 'Martin Chuzzlewit', Good Reading For Pacifists - 07:07
53 52. Quentin As A Ball-Player, Four Sheepish Small Boys - 03:47
54 53. John Burroughs and the Flying Squirrel, Beauty of White House Grounds, Quentin and a Beehive - 03:48
55 54. Quentin And Turner, Quentin and the Pig, A Presidential Fall, More About Quentin - 06:37
56 55. Tribute To Kermit, Longing For Home, The Last Hunt, Quentin Grown Up - 06:10

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Public domain books

A public-domain book is a book with no copyright, a book that was created without a license, or a book where its copyrights expired or have been forfeited.

In most countries the of copyright expires on the first day of January, 70 years after the death of the latest living author. The longest copyright term is in Mexico, which has life plus 100 years for all deaths since July 1928.

A notable exception is the United States, where every book and tale published before 1926 is in the public domain; American copyrights last for 95 years for books originally published between 1925 and 1978 if the copyright was properly registered and maintained.