The Best Abe Lincolns
by Betty Carter

Primary | Intermediate | Young Adult

Commenting on the bicentennial activities surrounding Lincoln’s birth, noted Lincoln scholar Harold Holzer told a CNN reporter that “it would be terrific for students to respect [Lincoln’s] love of reading.” Such sentiment appears repeatedly as an object-lesson in Lincoln lore and, less didactically in other works such as Doreen Rappaport’s Abe’s Honest Words, which includes this Lincoln quote: “The things I want to know are in books; my best friend is the man who’ll git me a book I ain’t read.” There are a number of fine books about Lincoln, and kids may find their own friends in those who “git” them one or more of these books, all of which have the power to entertain, delight, and inform. The following is a sampling (many newly published, some classics, with date of publication noted); other recommendations, along with timely activities, a free poster, and lesson plans for teachers are located at www.lincolnbicentennial.gov/

Primary
Suggested grade level for each entry: K–3

Our Abe Lincoln adapted by Jim Aylesworth, illustrated by Barbara McClintock (Blue Sky/Scholastic, 2009)
When Lincoln was running for president, supporters sang a popular ditty, “Our Abe Lincoln,” set to the tune of “The Old Grey Mare.” Aylesworth adds his own adulatory verses, creating a cradle-to-grave musical biography that McClintock enthusiastically stages as a school pageant with youngsters dressed in period costumes acting out each stanza. 32 pages.

Abraham Lincoln written by Amy L. Cohn and Suzy Schmidt, illustrated by David A. Johnson (Scholastic, 2002)
This folksy account of Lincoln’s life reads as if a beloved friend or relative were thumbing through a photograph album and sharing memories of this familiar man with a small child. The narrative covers Lincoln’s life from beginning (“Look. In the cradle. See the baby? That’s Abraham Lincoln, born on a cornhusk mattress one cold Kentucky morning”) to end (“They took Abraham across the street and laid him on a cornhusk mattress. In a few hours, he was dead”). 40 pages.

Just a Few Words, Mr. Lincoln: The Story of the Gettysburg Address written by Jean Fritz, illustrated by Charles Robinson (Grosset, 1993)
Fritz, with her trademark light touch, connects Lincoln’s private and public lives for beginning readers as she outlines the responsibilities of both, neither of which makes him too busy to write the Gettysburg Address. 48 pages.

Abe Lincoln Crosses a Creek: A Tall, Thin Tale written by Deborah Hopkinson, illustrated by John Hendrix (Schwartz & Wade/Random, 2008)
In this recounting of an incident from Lincoln’s childhood, young Austin Gollaher rescues his friend Abraham Lincoln from drowning, but many of the details (such as exactly how he pulled Lincoln out of Knob Creek) are not known. Readers are told of the gaps in the story and encouraged to think about what might have happened: “the thing about history — if you weren’t there, you can’t know for sure.” 40 pages.

What Lincoln Said written by Sarah L. Thomson, illustrated by James E. Ransome (Collins/HarperCollins, 2009)
Here readers can accompany Lincoln from his boyhood to the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation. Ransome adds a humorous touch by creating a looseness to Lincoln’s physical stature. Lincoln quotes flesh out this picture book biography with wit (“When someone called him ‘two-faced,’ he shot back. ‘If I had another face, do you think I would wear this one?’”) and substance (“‘If ever my name goes into history, it will be for this act,’ he said, ‘and my whole soul is in it’”). 32 pages.

Intermediate
Suggested grade level for each entry: 4–6

A Three-Minute Speech: Lincoln’s Remarks at Gettysburg written by Jennifer Armstrong, illustrated by Albert Lorenz (Aladdin/Simon, 2003)
Armstrong places the Gettysburg Address within the context of the history and the ideals of the United States, from Independence to the Civil War. 80 pages.

No Better Hope: What the Lincoln Memorial Means to America written by Brent Ashabranner, photographs by Jennifer Ashabranner (Twenty-First Century/Millbrook, 2001)
Grounding a discussion of the Lincoln Memorial with personal respect for the man, Ashabranner outlines the steps of establishing, building, sculpting, and dedicating this “nation’s best-known symbol of unity and greatness.” Ashabranner also briefly covers Lincoln’s life and the symbolism of the memorial. 64 pages.

Lincoln Shot: A President’s Life Remembered written by Barry Denenberg, illustrated by Christopher Bing (Feiwel, 2008)
Denenberg and Bing create a commemorative newspaper (“The National News”) resembling one that would have been printed at the time of Lincoln’s death. The article format and generous illustrations (some archival, some original to the work, all reprinted on faux-aged paper in sepia tones) promote browsing and create multiple entry points into the oversized (twelve inches by eighteen inches) book. 40 pages.

Lincoln: A Photobiography by Russell Freedman (Clarion, 1987)
This first Lincoln biography to introduce young readers to the human behind the myth set the gold standard for future works. Photographs of Lincoln, his family, and his times work in concert with vivid prose that appeals across age levels and often incorporates Lincoln’s own quotes: “Lincoln wanted to stay in office. Reelection alone would show that the people approved of his emancipation policy. He felt that he was ‘not entirely unworthy to be entrusted with the place.’” 150 pages.

The Gettysburg Address written by Abraham Lincoln, illustrated by Michael McCurdy (Houghton, 1995)
Historian Gary Wills’s introduction provides both historical and contextual background for Lincoln’s 272-word address. What follows is an illustrated parsing of the speech, with each page or double-page spread devoted to a single phrase or sentence. Somber cross-hatchings capture the gravity and intensity of the occasion. 32 pages.

Abe’s Honest Words: The Life of Abraham Lincoln written by Doreen Rappaport, illustrated by Kadir Nelson (Hyperion, 2008)
Luminous illustrations and spare prose depict Lincoln as both folksy and mythical. Familiar Lincoln quotations (“Resolve to be honest at all events and if you cannot be an honest lawyer, resolve to be honest without being a lawyer”) anchor major episodes in his life; the emphasis here is on Lincoln’s growing abhorrence of slavery. 40 pages.

Two Miserable Presidents: Everything Your Schoolbooks Didn’t Tell You About the Civil War written by Steve Sheinkin, illustrated by Tim Robinson (Flash Point/Roaring Brook, 2008)
By comparing and contrasting the fortunes and misfortunes of Lincoln, president of the United States, and Jefferson Davis, president of the Confederate States of America, Sheinkin brings a dual perspective to the causes, battles, and individual sacrifices during the Civil War. An abundance of amusing details add personal touches to the men and their times. 224 pages.

Young Adult
Suggested grade level for each entry: 7 and up

The Lincolns: A Scrapbook Look at Abraham and Mary by Candace Fleming (Schwartz & Wade/Random, 2008)
This scrapbook format allows readers and browsers a full account of both Abraham and Mary Todd Lincoln, including Mary’s life after Lincoln’s assassination. Chronologically arranged and lavishly illustrated, this volume also offers historical background about issues and personalities of the times. 181 pages.

Abraham Lincoln the Writer: A Treasury of His Greatest Speeches and Letters compiled and edited by Harold Holzer (Boyds Mills, 2000)
Besides being one of our greatest presidents, Lincoln is also one of the country’s greatest writers. A chronological sampling — including some poetry, the stirring Gettysburg address, and notes to his children — allows readers to see that command of language develops and changes depending on the situation at hand. 106 pages.

Commander in Chief: Abraham Lincoln and the Civil War by Albert Marrin (Dutton, 1997)
This account covers Lincoln’s life but emphasizes the battles, dilemmas, and decisions of this wartime president. 246 pages.

Lincoln: In His Own Words written by Milton Meltzer, illustrated by Stephen Alcorn (Harcourt, 1993)
Meltzer's full biographical portrait of our sixteenth president punctuates events with excerpts from Lincoln’s pen. 226 pages.

Picturing Lincoln: Famous Photographs that Popularized the President by George Sullivan (Clarion, 2000)
Lincoln’s presidency also marks the beginning of the media age of politics; his picture appears on hundreds of flyers, memorial cards, and in newspapers. Although approximately one hundred thirty photographs were taken of Lincoln, most of the images we have seen come from just five. Sullivan explains the process of converting photographs into woodcuts and some of the doctoring these five portraits have undergone. (Martin W. Sandler’s Lincoln Through the Lens: How Photography Revealed and Shaped an Extraordinary Life [Walker, 2008, 97 pages] discusses not only Lincoln photographs but also other images, such as battleground scenes and soldier portraits, creating a context for the time period.) 88 pages.

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