Adm. William H. McRaven is working with his daughter Kelly on the sequel to the bestselling picture book

NEW YORK – Adm. William H. McRaven is working with his daughter Kelly McRaven on a sequel to his best-selling picture book “Skipper the Seal,” which explores his former 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 released on March 11, 2025. Featuring 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 to do that. As I grew up, I realized that there are real heroes all around us and that the only strength they needed was belief in themselves.”

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

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

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