Chelsea Clinton, who visits KC on Tuesday, wants kids to know they can change the world

Chelsea Clinton’s parents put themselves in the best position to change the world. But the daughter of former President Bill Clinton and current Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton stresses that anyone can embrace the opportunity to help.

In her authorial debut, “It’s Your World: Get Informed, Get Inspired & Get Going!,” Clinton aims to embolden 10- to 14-year-olds. Stories of proactive youngsters who’ve made noble contributions to their communities are coupled with specific ways everyone can pitch in to fight poverty and improve liberties, health and the environment.

“I often am asked — admittedly, only by adults — ‘What do you think kids should care about?’ ” Clinton says. “If you ask kids, they’ll tell you what they care about.”

Clinton, calling from San Francisco while nearing the end of a two-month book tour, is returning to Kansas City Tuesday. Now married with an infant daughter, the 35-year-old veteran of growing up in the public eye believes kids are “so much more engaged and aware than adults often give them credit for being.”

She’s hoping “It’s Your World” provides additional motivation for them to make a sincere difference.

Q. What was the first thing you ever wrote that made you proud?

A. I wrote a letter to President Reagan when I was 5.

I learned from reading the newspaper that then-President Reagan was planning to visit then-West Germany. On his public schedule was a visit to Bitburg Cemetery. I didn’t think an American president should go to a place where Nazis were buried and pay his respects on behalf of our country — implicitly, to the Nazi dead.

So I wrote a letter that was admittedly far more simple than that, basically saying, “I know Nazis weren’t very nice people, and I didn’t think you should go to their cemetery.” I included my favorite rainbow and heart stickers as a gesture of good will.

I never heard back. And President Reagan still went to Bitburg Cemetery. I was a little disappointed I didn’t hear back, and I was really disappointed he still went. But at least I had tried.

My parents were really proud of me for trying. The fact that raising my voice hadn’t made a difference mattered less than that I had tried.

Q. At the White House, your Secret Service code name was Energy. Does that still describe you?

A. I think so. I’m a very energetic person. That’s probably still apt.

Q. Knowing that your target audience was younger for “It’s Your World,” how did you tone down your writing style without talking down to your reader?

A. It was really important to get that right, for a couple of reasons.

One, when I was 10 or 11, I read a book called “50 Simple Things Kids Can Do to Save the Earth.” It had a huge impact on me because it treated me seriously. It didn’t talk down to me.

It treated me as someone who deserved to know about climate change, global warming and pollution, and also as somebody who could make a difference in those areas, not someone who just had to wait until I was older. That was the main motivation for why I wrote “It’s Your World,” in hopes it could even impact one kid the way “50 Simple Things” impacted me.

When I first started thinking about “It’s Your World,” I talked to kids to get their thoughts and suggestions. Throughout the whole process I engaged kids.

I had kids read early and later drafts. I had focus groups of kids in the target age group to find out what they thought about different topics or the use of statistics and graphs, not only the topics but how they were presented. I engaged them to ensure it was both accessible and credible.

Q. So much of your book is about encountering problems when you were traveling the world. Now being on a book tour for several months, have you identified any new problems in America that you didn’t already address?

A. Traveling the last six weeks across the country, I sadly haven’t learned about anything new, but I have learned in an exciting and optimistic sense about what young people are doing.

They come up to me at book signings or they stand up in their middle schools and tell me about what they’re doing to help build schools or have clean water or to help ensure that the kids in their school who are food insecure have enough food for the weekend.

That I find really exciting: to continue to hear what’s happening in a positive sense that is driven by kids, for kids, across our country and around the world.

Q. You feature many kids in the book who’ve done extraordinary things. Who is one of the most memorable?

A. I must disclose I hate getting that question because I feel like they’re all so extraordinary. But one I admittedly think about a lot is Haile Thomas. She’s so remarkable.

When she was 7, her dad was diagnosed with diabetes. She knew he was unhealthy and didn’t like to eat good food or exercise. But she knew he could reverse his diabetes if he did the opposite. She went to her family and said she wanted to start making family meals to help Dad be healthier. She became their family chef. Her dad got healthy.

Then she helped other kids be their family chef. Then she launched an online cookbook. Then Hyatt Hotels hired her to reshape all their kid meals at their hotels around the country.

I find that story inspiring because Haile started off with an objective. Then she achieved that. But it’s a real testament that once you start engaging and solving a problem, if what you’re doing really works, you have no idea where you’ll wind up.

Q. Are you looking forward to next November or dreading it?

A. I don’t think about my life that way. I’m really excited about my mom’s campaign. It’s no surprise, but I strongly support her and believe that she’s the right president for our country at this moment in time.

She’s certainly the person I want to lead the country as a mom. Even more than her being my mom, I strongly support her because I believe she’s the right president for my daughter.

But next November is a long way away. We don’t take anything for granted. There’s a lot of work to do between now and then. I know she’s out doing that work every day.

Q. Would you want your daughter to grow up to be president?

A. I want my daughter to grow up to be whatever she wants to be. At the moment I want her to conquer walking. She’s almost there.

This story was originally published November 9, 2015 at 1:28 PM with the headline "Chelsea Clinton, who visits KC on Tuesday, wants kids to know they can change the world."