Darling Ethel: Of course you remember the story of the little prairie girl. I always associate it with you. Well, again and again on this trip we would pass through prairie villages-bleak and lonely-with all the people in from miles about to see me. Among them were dozens of young girls, often pretty, and as far as I could see much more happy than the heroine of the story. One of them shook hands with me, and then, after much whispering, said: "We want to shake hands with the guard " The "guard" proved to be Roly, who was very swell in his uniform, and whom they evidently thought much more attractive than the President... -from "Prairie Girls" Remembered today for his expansive personality and grand sense of adventure, Theodore Roosevelt-politician and soldier, naturalist and historian-was also a devoted, doting father and husband. This beautiful selection of the letters he wrote to his children over the courses of their lives, as well as a few written to other correspondents about the children, reveal a man deeply in love with his family and with the joys of fatherhood. The tales of Christmases at the White House and whistle-stop tours through the American countryside offer a cozy glimpse into one of the greatest American presidencies... and Roosevelt's tenderness with his sons and daughters-as he treats them as friends, confidantes, and equals-creates a warm and intimate portrait of one of the great American characters. Also available from Cosimo Classics: Roosevelt's A Book-Lover's Holidays in the Open, America and the World War, Through the Brazilian Wilderness and Papers on Natural History, Ranch Life and the Hunting Trail, The Strenuous Life: Essays and Addresses, and Historic Towns: New York OF INTEREST TO: Roosevelt fans, readers of autobiography, students of the American presidency American icon THEODORE ROOSEVELT (1858-1919) was 26th President of the United States, serving from 1901 to 1909, and the first American to win a Nobel Prize, in 1906, when he was awarded the Peace Prize for mediating the Russo-Japanese War. He is the author of 35 books.