Adm. William H. McRaven collaborating with daughter Kelly on follow-up to bestselling picture book

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Adm. William H. McRaven is collaborating with daughter Kelly McRaven on a follow-up to his bestselling “Skipper the Seal” picture book that draws upon his onetime passion for being a superhero.

Little Brown Books for Young Readers announced Monday that the McRavens' “Be a Hero with Skipper the Seal” will be published March 11, 2025. With illustrations by Howard McWilliam, the new book follows the adventures of Skipper as he is asked by the president of the United States to recruit a team of heroes.

“As a young boy in Texas, I dreamed of being a superhero and saving the world,” the admiral said in a statement. “But I thought you had to have special powers. When I grew up, I found that real heroes are all around us and the only power they needed was belief in themselves.”

Kelly McRaven said in a statement that “Some of my favorite memories are of my dad reading to me before bed and sharing life lessons. He taught me that we can all be heroes if we give a little of ourselves each day.”

McRaven, who retired in 2014, led the U.S. Joint Special Operations Command when a team of Navy SEALs killed Osama bin Laden in Pakistan in 2011. Two years earlier, he led the 2009 rescue of Richard Phillips, a ship captain captured by Somali pirates who was later portrayed by Tom Hanks in the 2013 movie “Captain Phillips.”

McRaven's other books include “The Hero Code: Lessons Learned from Lives Well Lived” and “Sea Stories: My Life in Special Operations.”