Callista Gingrich published the fourth book in her Ellis the Elephant series, “From Sea To Shining Sea,” in which Ellis follows Meriwether Lewis and William Clark on their journey exploring the American West.
Gingrich on Wednesday penned an op-ed in CNN in which she stressed the importance of American history education and our “shared history.”
“Unfortunately, we are doing a poor job of helping the next generation learn American history. As a result, our national memory of what it means to be American is beginning to slip away,” she wrote.
She said that her new book reflects the importance of teaching kids about what makes America great.
“We really owe the vast United States we have today to changes that happened after the American Revolution, beginning with President Thomas Jefferson, who saw that America could become something much greater than it was when he took office,” she wrote. “Jefferson believed that this great country, soon to span an entire continent, could be held together not by force or by a strong personality, but by a shared idea: of liberty protected by a representative democracy.”
She then quoted President Ronald Reagan’s farewell address, during which he stressed the importance of an “informed patriotism.” Gingrich said that her new book will contribute to “informed patriotism” by teaching kids about “many of the pivotal moments in history, such as the great expedition of Lewis and Clark.”
Book Cover image via Regenery Publishing
