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Michelle Obama's book gets daughters' seal of approval

Michelle Obama signs a copy of her book, "American Grown: The Story of the White House Kitchen Garden and Garden Across America," in Washington, June 12, 2012. AP

(CBS/AP) Michelle Obama gets a rare thumbs-up from her daughters for publishing her first gardening book.

The first lady said her daughters Sasha, 11, and Malia, 13, were pulled in by the beautiful pictures and eventually read "American Grown: The Story of the White House Kitchen Garden and Gardens Across America."

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"They couldn't put it down and they started looking through and then they started actually reading it," she said. "Eventually, I got, actually, a thumbs-up."

Mrs. Obama spoke to a bookstore crowd at an anything-but-typical book signing, which required more than 200 attendees to stand in line for hours last week to get a wrist band, then go through security clearance and again line up for a few hours before Tuesday's signing at a downtown Barnes & Noble bookstore. She thanked the groups that were caught up in the rain while waiting.

The book, released two weeks ago, traces the story of the garden on the South Lawn and community gardens around the country.

The first lady was joined by children from Bancroft and Harriet Tubman elementary schools, both in Washington, who have helped with the garden since its inception.

"They come to the White House, they don't get star struck, they don't look around, they get to work," she said, as the crowd laughed. "They get our garden planted and harvested in a matter of 10, 15 minutes, sometimes 30 minutes. They just get it done."

Meanwhile, the first lady just joined the social networking site Pinterest. The Obama campaign created three boards for Mrs. Obama, and pins from the first lady herself are signed "-mo."

She already pinned photos of the family as well as a childhood shot of her father, Fraser Robinson.


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