First lady wins Grammy award

A book on child rearing has earned America's First Lady, Hillary Rodham Clinton, a Grammy award.

Mrs Clinton's book, It Takes a Village, took the award for best spoken word or non-musical album. The book spent 20 weeks on best-seller lists last year.

The award was announced during the pre-telecast presentation ceremony last night at Madison Square Garden in New York.

"I'm amazed," said Mrs Clinton, who appeared in person to accept the top prize in her category, before having having to rush back to Washington to attend a White House state dinner in honour of the Chilean President, Eduardo Frei.

Mrs Clinton's recording was nominated along with Garrison Keillor's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and Charles Kuralt's America, by Charles Kuralt. AP