Obama And Daughters Go Big On Books On Small Business Saturday

U.S. President Barack Obama does his part for the local economy with a trip to local D.C. bookstore Politics and Prose on Small Business Saturday.

WASHINGTON D.C., UNITED STATES (NOVEMBER 30, 2013) (RESTRICTED POOL) - President Barack Obama and his daughters, Sasha and Malia, went on what has become an annual book shopping spree on Saturday (November 30), stopping at a bookstore to promote an event called Small Business Saturday.

The First Family, in casual dress, stopped traffic in Politics and Prose, a tiny locally-owned store inNorthwest Washington. They took time to mingle with camera-phone wielding shoppers before heading to the checkout.They purchased about two dozen books, including "The Lowland," by Jhumpa Lahiri, "The Ballad of the Sad Cafe: Other stories" by Carson McCullers, "Red Sparrow" by Jason Matthews, and "The Kite Runner" by Khaled Hosseini.

"It's a long list," Obama said while paying, his daughters, aged 12 and 15, standing behind him. "I've got books for every age group, from 5 to 52."

Part of the American Thanksgiving tradition is shopping for holiday gifts. Big box stores have Black Friday, online retailers have Cyber Monday, and more recently, mom-and-pop stores have Small Business Saturday.

Created in 2010 by credit card company American Express, the day aims to encourage Americans to spend their holiday shopping money at locally owned businesses, which have been particularly hit hard by the economic downturn.

Last year, Americans spent approximately $5.5 billion on Small Business Saturday, according American Express.