Letters to His Children


Read by LibriVox Volunteers

(4.6 stars; 13 reviews)

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." ~ Summary by Michele Fry

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.

Chapters

Select a chapter to play

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

Reviews

Echoes from another time.


(5 stars)

These letters afford us a look into the heart of President Theodore Roosevelt.