Kelley Paul, a familiar face in Republican circles as the spouse of Senator Rand Paul and daughter-in-law of Congressman Ron Paul, has taken aim at early education with a new children’s book called “Good Night, Young American.” The book, timed for America’s 250th anniversary, turns founding-era history into a lively bedtime adventure designed to spark curiosity in young readers. Kelley talks about family inspiration, artistic collaboration, and a clear goal: to remind kids that the birth of this country was bold, radical, and worth celebrating.
Kelley Paul has long played roles across campaigns, communications, and public life, and she now channels that experience into writing for young children. Her new project leans on family conversations and a desire to see patriotism taught in a way that excites kids. She presented the book while attending Freedom Fest in Las Vegas, where she explained how the idea took shape.
“I have to give a lot of credit to my daughter-in-law, Kate. She and our son were over for dinner last summer with our grandson, who was only six months old at the time. And Kate was like, you know, we need more patriotic books for babies. She wasn’t really happy with a lot of the book options she was seeing. And that night at dinner, we kind of played around with some ideas. And I came up with ‘Good Night Young American.’ And a year later, here it is.”
“Good Night, Young American,” aimed at kids about 4–8, takes young readers through a hands-on tour of early and colonial American history. The story frames the journey as a series of vivid scenes so children can picture themselves inside the adventure. The concept is simple: let curiosity lead the child to ask questions about what the Fourth of July and the founding really mean.
“Well, our revolutionary history is such a great adventure, right? So when I came up with the concept that my little boy would start out on the 4th of July with his parents, asking, what is it all about? I knew we’d be celebrating the 250th. Kids ask, what are we really celebrating?”
“And his dad describes the Declaration of Independence to him in the signing. So I tried to think what is going to appeal to children in this great adventure of our revolution. So when he falls asleep that night, he’s in the crow’s nest of the Mayflower. He is a pilgrim, he’s a colonist, and then he makes friends with all the great revolutionary heroes that we know. So he makes friends with Sam Adams, he joins the Sons of Liberty, he meets at the Green Dragon. This is so exciting for children, right?”
“It’s visual stuff. He makes friends with Ben Franklin, and he’s flying the kite. Dramatically rides on the midnight ride with Paul Revere. He and his dog, his little dog, are with him for all the adventures. And of course, he crosses the Delaware with George Washington. And I wanted to make the signing of the Declaration of Independence and the writing of it something that was dynamic and exciting visually. So I have him swinging on the Liberty Bell when the declaration is signed.”
Paul teamed up with illustrator Marika Monesi to give those scenes real energy, aiming for movement and warm character moments that resonate with children. The illustrations push the book beyond a dry recounting and into something kids want to look at again and again. That visual energy is meant to make history feel alive, not distant.
“She really captured the excitement on the little boy’s face, his personality, but I worked very close with her,” Paul said. “I wanted there to be a lot of movement, a lot of dynamic images. So, for example, with the Liberty Bell, for kids, a bunch of men standing around writing a document…I wanted to bring it to life. So I said, let’s have him running up to the top of the bell tower in Philadelphia at Freedom Hall and swinging on the Liberty Bell. And she was just such a great artist. With the George Washington scenes, he’s crossing the Delaware because that, again, is so visual. I wanted drive home to children the incredible bravery and courage of our founders, how cold and miserable and hard that war was.”
“Also, I love the illustration that she did of the King of England reading the Declaration of Independence. I have to give my husband Rand a little credit there. On the first couple of drafts that she did, Rand was like, ‘He needs to be fatter. King George was famously fat!’ So it was a lot of fun. It was very collaborative.”
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Part of the push for the book is a response to how American history is taught and framed today. Paul says the founders are too often reduced to one-dimensional labels instead of recognized for the radical political thinking they risked their lives to put into practice. She wants children to see the founders as courageous reformers who broke with the unquestioned rules of hereditary rule and divine right.
“I do think that we’ve gotten away from really celebrating our founders and our heroes. What they were doing in 1776 was incredibly radical, if you think about it. At that time, everyone accepted the divine right of kings. Everyone accepted hereditary rule. And our founders took Enlightenment ideas from John Locke and philosophers, and they turned it into the framework for a government. The idea of self-government and that our rights come from our Creator, that we have inalienable rights that are given to us by God and not from a king. Those were radical ideas of the time.”
“I like to say our founders were the first civil rights heroes, the first civil libertarians. And I think our education system has gotten away from that. They don’t view them in the time that they existed, and suddenly now everything is oppressor versus oppressed narrative. And they are labeled more like colonizers or enslavers, and that’s the only view that they’re looked at, and not as human beings who sacrificed their very lives to write the Declaration of Independence, to form this country…it was an incredible, bold, and courageous act, but it was also an act of moral courage and philosophical courage.”
Her hope is practical: inspire questions and give parents an entry point to talk about America in a positive, historically grounded way. The goal is to make children feel included in the nation’s story and proud of the principles that built it. Paul hopes that early exposure to these ideas will lead kids to want to learn more.
“Well, I hope that my books, especially with America’s 250, will spark a lot of questions and that they will give a framework for parents to talk to their kids about the founding of this country. And I hope children from a very, very young age will come away with this idea that they are a part of America’s story, that they as Americans can take pride in the heroism of our revolutionary founders. That as Americans, this is all of our story. So that’s really my goal with the books.”
“Well, I try to use language that kids could understand, and very much use simple terms. But if you think about it, it is simple. Our rights come from God. And when he makes friends with Thomas Jefferson, he says, Thomas Jefferson has written this amazing document that says that we can all be free to live our lives the way we choose, and no government can take our rights to, you know, to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness away from us.
He also talks about James Madison and the Bill of Rights and the most important right is freedom of speech. That is that no government can tell you what to say or what not to say.”
Rand Paul played a hands-on role, offering notes and historical pointers as Kelley shaped the narrative for young readers. Kelley credits his input and their long partnership as part of the collaborative process that tightened the book’s focus. She also mentions her family lineage as part of the inspiration for passing on a proud, constitutional tradition.
“Rand has been incredibly supportive. I’m just so grateful and blessed to have had an amazing, now 36-year marriage to Rand Paul. And he was very involved. He would read over the drafts and gave me a lot of, like I said, good advice about things in history that he thought I should include.
And I’m also just very grateful to be the daughter-in-law of Ron Paul. And so, I wanted these books to be there for our little grandson who I call ‘my favorite little American’ and help him from an early age be educated in the legacy that, the Paul family has in this country.”
