Jeremy Zilber can’t remember a time when he didn’t consider himself a Democrat but isn’t sure if as a child he could explain exactly why.

“I really thought a Democrat meant you were against [President Richard] Nixon,” said Zilber, 41, from his Wisconsin home. “My parents didn’t explicitly go out of their way to sit me down and explain why we were Democrats but I certainly remember a lot of criticism of Nixon. My recollection is quite clear that we didn’t like him. He was a bad man and a bad president and he did something very wrong.”

Zilber believes children need a stronger basis than parental partisanship for calling themselves a Democrat — either party, he concedes.

That thought, coupled with a handful of independent observations by his mother and friends that he ought to try his hand at children’s literature, resulted in the reason for his appearance at this weekend’s presidential straw poll: “Why Mommy is a Democrat.”

“I have no idea why they suggested children’s books,” he laughed. “Maybe it means I’m a nice guy who knows how to write but isn’t meant to write for adults.”

His mother proposed Zilber write about politics. After all, he had been teaching the subject for seven to eight years and was holding a position at Lawrence University.

“Within five minutes I knew I was going to write this book. I fell in love with the idea. Young children are very partisan but few know what it means. They are just know they are one party and it is better. I thought if children are going to run around calling themselves Democrats maybe they ought to know what it means,” he said.

From teaching college students political basics, Zilber realized it was a lesson from which many adults would benefit.

“All these 20-year-olds in my class had no idea what parties do and frankly a number don’t care. It really drives home the problem of why so few vote, are involved in politics or have crazy misconceptions,” Zilber said.

In November 2005, Zilber self-published the 28-page book which follows a Democratic squirrel family with simple explanations of party values.

“Democrats make sure we all share our toys, just like Mommy does.”

“Democrats make sure we are always safe, just like Mommy does.”

“Democrats make sure children can go to school, just like Mommy does.”

Lest adults think the book is only aimed at youth, illustrator Yuliya Firsova includes subtle swipes at the Republic Party that might go over the head of young readers but be easily recognizable to their parents: a couple ignoring a panhandler on a park bench as Mommy watches the children share blocks; an elephant crowding a road while Mommy keeps the children safely out of way; Mommy packing a school bag for the children while in the background a couple flanks a university graduate next to a sign advertising $160,000 admission.

Since its publication, Zilber said book sales have been so good he’s lost track of actual figures but estimates 25,000 to 26,000 copies purchased.

Don’t expect Zilber to offer up a GOP version of the book although he said probably 30 e-mails to him begin with “I’m going to write a book called Why Mommy or Daddy is a Republican.”

Instead, Zilber’s newest production is due out in a few weeks: “Why Daddy is a Democrat.”

Rather than rehash the original book with a different parent, Zilber said the second installment tries to address specific policies like stem cell research, the environment, labor unions and education.

Again, Zilber wants to give parents and other adults tools to teach children about the positives of the Democratic Party rather than have allegiance be built as a reaction to the negatives of other political options.

Zilber and his book will be in San Mateo on Sunday for the first-ever Democratic Presidential Straw Poll. The request came from his mother, Judy, who lives in Moss Beach and whom Zilber coincidentally already planned on visiting after a trip to Tucson.

Zilber also plans this weekend to talk to his mother about how he came to be a Democrat. Although his parents never gave him specific reasons to join the party, he said, there were plenty of strong clues.

Aside from the aforementioned criticism of Nixon, his parents once threw a fundraiser for candidate George McGovern in his Ohio living room which include musician Tom Lehrer on piano. Although Lehrer was well-known for his political satire, Zilber remembers knowing him as a singer on The Electric Company.

“Here it was around ’72 and I have the guy who sang the Silent E song telling me to support McGovern,” Zilber said. “I figured if he told me to do that, I was a Democrat.”

Michelle Durand can be reached by e-mail: michelle@smdailyjournal.com or by phone: (650) 344-5200 ext. 102.