First Dog Bo Obama Snacks On Axelrod's Tie

June 30, 2009 03:47 PM ET | Paul Bedard, Nikki Schwab | Permanent Link | Print

By Nikki Schwab, Washington Whispers

First dog Bo is a chewer. First lady Michelle Obama has revealed that the Portuguese water dog likes to nibble her feet. And now top White House adviser David Axelrod says fashion is also a target of Bo. "The first time I met Bo, I leaned over to pet him and he chewed my tie," Axelrod told a group of school kids today at a Department of Education reading event. "Maybe I had a bit of my lunch on it," he added, earning loud squeals from a group of youngsters.

Axelrod was on hand to debut a new summer reading program, Read to the Top!! He fittingly decided to read the book First Dog by J. Patrick Lewis, Beth Zappitello, and Tim Bowers. "I didn't realize that Bo traveled so much," the Obama adviser cooed as he flipped through the pages that show a Bo look-alike traveling the world. He also read My Teacher for President by Kay Winters. "I hope that she runs for president in eight years," he said. The adults laughed at that one.

While Axelrod—introduced to the kids as the "president's best friend"—was there to advocate summer reading, his own book list is short. "My summer reading list is slim because most of my reading is memos and speeches, but I do like to read a little each day to get a little separation," he told Whispers. On his book list: Night by Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel, whom he met with President Obama in Europe, and the Pulitzer Prize-winning American Lion by Jon Meacham. The latter is a biography of Andrew Jackson. "He's a magnificent writer and a very meticulous historian,"Axe says of Meacham, "so I think that will be a good book."