Lara Trump reads children's book, and touts father-in-law, at library in Indiantown

INDIANTOWN — Lara Trump capped a busy Friday in South Florida for the Trump family with an afternoon reading of her new children's book at a library in this rural community about 50 miles northwest of the clan's Mar-a-Lago hub.

The event took place in this town of 6,600 in crimson-red Martin County because its public library was the "only" one that would agree to host the event, said an official with the book's publishing house, Brave Books.

The former president's daughter-in-law was greeted by a dozen kids, parents and grandparents at the Elisabeth Lahti Library. Following the Pledge of Allegiance and the singing of "God Bless America," Trump read the colorfully illustrated book, "The Never-Give-Up Pup."

It's the story of a puppy that perseveres despite setbacks to join an elite sleuths academy. It was inspired, she said, by her own experience of being rejected by the junior varsity cheerleading team at her high school and then being rewarded, after adhering to her father's advice, by winning a spot on the varsity squad the following year.

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"I was thinking, 'What is it that I want to talk about? What is the moral of the story I want to write?'" said Trump, who is married to Donald Trump's second-oldest son, Eric, and now lives not far away in Jupiter. "I always try to teach our children the value of a hard day's work and what hard hard work will ultimately get you."

Lara Trump's reading followed the morning high-school graduation ceremony for her brother-in-law, Barron, at Oxbridge Academy. Later that day, Donald Trump spoke at a GOP dinner in Minnesota.

Lara Trump, who serves as vice chair of the Republican National Committee, mixed in a little politics at the event, where three of the people who attended donned MAGA hats and T-shirts. She noted the United States is "the greatest country on earth and we are bringing it back on Nov. 5 of this year. Let's just say that."

She later added, in talking about the book's advocacy of disciplined work ethic, that "no one right now is working harder in the entire country than" the 2024 presumptive Republican nominee.

The event was sponsored by Brave Books, a conservative, Christian publisher that produced the book. Copies of the book signed by Lara Trump sold at the event for $40.

Brave Books' Zach Bell introduced Trump and the book, saying the publisher issues a new book every month that is intended to teach a different value. The series of books are set in a fictional place called Freedom Island, a metaphor for the United States, he said.

"Just as like the heroes on Freedom Island are trying to protect and preserve what's good in that world, we want to teach the next generation to preserve what is good in our world," said Bell. "So that when they grow up, they can discern what's right and what's wrong."

Nonetheless, no other public library in the region was willing to "welcome" the event, he said.

"This was the only library that allowed us to come," Bell said.

Antonio Fins is a politics and business editor at The Palm Beach Post, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach him at afins@pbpost.com. Help support our journalism. Subscribe today.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Lara Trump reads children's book at library in Indiantown