First look: Michelle Obama’s new cookbook

Publishers for US First Lady Michelle Obama’s upcoming cookbook have released an early preview of the book’s cover art and revealed more details about its spring release.

American Grown: How the White House Kitchen Garden Inspires Families, Schools, and Communities, published by Crown Publishers, is Obama’s first cookbook and will be issued in both print and digital editions.

The print edition will include photos of the White House garden and Obama throughout the seasons, and include more details about how the First Lady was inspired by her daughters Sasha and Malia to change her family’s eating habits and plant an edible garden on the South Lawn — the first since Eleanor Roosevelt’s “Victory Garden,” planted during the Second World War.

The book will also provide ideas and resources on how to start urban gardens and make long-lasting lifestyle changes with recipe ideas and simple tips.

Obama accepted no advance for the book and all net proceeds will go to charity. The book goes on sale in the US April 10, 2012.

Obama’s not the first First Lady to espouse a cause and pen a book or two. Laura Bush co-wrote a children’s book promoting literacy Read All About It! with daughter Jenna, while Hillary Rodham Clinton, current Secretary of State, wrote It Takes a Village while First Lady as a vocal child advocate.