Baboo: The Story of Sir John A. Macdonald's Daughter

Steve Pitt is a Toronto-based freelance writer and an award-winning journalist. He has written many young adult and children's books, including Day of the Flying Fox: The True Story of World War II Pilot Charley Fox.

Mary Margaret Theodora Macdonald was the only daughter of prime minister
Sir John A. Macdonald and his wife Agnes. As a baby, her father would
call Mary “Baboo.” A brain injury at birth prevented Mary from ever
learning to walk, use her hands, or even speak without a great deal of
difficulty. Despite her many challenges, Mary led a full and happy life.
When national duty required Sir John to spend much of his time away from
home, he and Mary would exchange letters. When Sir John died, Mary and
her mother moved to England where she lived to age 64, “an exceptional
age in those days for a person with Mary’s physical disabilities.”

This could have been a fascinating book but, other than describing what
a 19th-century prime minister’s love and money could buy for a
physically challenged child, there is not much of a story. Both the text
and illustrations oversentimentalize Mary and her famous father. Sir
John is portrayed as a doting, if often absent, parent. Mary is
portrayed as a happy child, patiently waiting to be doted on. Virtually
every illustration displays a smiling Baboo being carried, cuddled, or
entertained by some eminent Victorian. The result is that Mary Macdonald
emerges as a secondary character in her own book. Not a first-choice
purchase.