Abe Lincoln Remembers

by Ann Turner, Wendell Minor (Illustrator)

Overview

President Abraham Lincoln sits alone in the White House one evening in 1865. The war between the states is over at last, and the slaves are free. This man has come a long way from his small log cabin in Kentucky. What is he thinking about? What memories run through his mind?

Powerful text and stunning, historically accurate paintings combine to present a unique portrait of one of the greatest presidents in American history.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780060511074
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	01/07/2003
Edition description:	REPRINT
Pages:	32
Sales rank:	332,477
Product dimensions:	8.50(w) x 11.00(h) x 0.07(d)
Lexile:	920L (what's this?)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Ann Turner is the author of many novels, picture books, and poetry collections for young children. Her novel A Hunter Comes Home was an ALA Notable Children's Book, and her first picture book, Dakota Dugout, received the same honor. Among her other books are Abe Lincoln Remembers, an NCSS/CBC Notable Children's Trade Book in the Field of Social Studies, and Through Moon and Stars and Night Skies, a Reading Rainbow selection. Ms. Turner lives in Williamsburg, Massachusetts, with her family.

Wendell Minor is nationally known for the artwork he has created for over sixty award-winning children’s books. His many collaborators include Jean Craighead George, Robert Burleigh, Buzz Aldrin, Tony Johnston, Nikki Grimes, Mary Higgins Clark, and, last but not least, his wife, Florence. He is also the author and illustrator of My Farm Friends.

Editorial Reviews

Turner does a great job of bringing this historical leader to life for children.

BookPage

"The author chronologically organizes the biography into accessible vignettes, each accompanied by a finely detailed illustration marked by sharp, nearly photographic definitions," wrote PW. Ages 6-9. (Jan.)

Publishers Weekly

Minor's (Red Fox Running) stately, lifelike paintings and Turner's (Learning to Swim) anecdotal narrative--written in the conversational voice of Lincoln--shape an insightful portrait of this leader. The author chronologically organizes the text into accessible vignettes, each accompanied by a finely detailed illustration marked by sharp, nearly photographic definition. Turner emphasizes Lincoln's fascination with words and learning with well-chosen similes (as a lawyer, "I practiced my cases out loud as I walked,/ learning how to use words/ like a leading rein on a colt/ to take people where I wanted"), and stresses his early commitment to end slavery, his unwavering ethics and his profound anguish at the destruction and death caused by the Civil War. Cheerful moments inject some levity into the volume, as when Lincoln describes Mary Todd, the woman who would become his wife ("She was bright and brave/ like a flag cracking in the wind,/ all color, rustle, and shine"), and his son Tad's habit of driving his cart and goats through the White House hall. This well-rounded volume ends on an affecting, ironic note: As Lincoln and his wife "wait to go see a play," he thinks back on his childhood log cabin, reflecting on "how much has come to pass since then. How much there is still to be done." Ages 6-9. (Jan.) Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

K-Gr 3-Crisp, richly colored paintings accompany somber prose in this dreamy evocation of Lincoln's life and accomplishments, narrated in the first person by a mature president in the White House before an evening at the theater. The fictional memoir broadly describes the man's life from his youth in a Kentucky log cabin to the end of the Civil War; a concluding two-page historical note fills in some factual gaps and appraises readers of Lincoln's fate at the hands of John Wilkes Booth at Ford's Theater. Vivid full-page illustrations provide counterpoint to islands of verse; a rendering of Lincoln's signature and simple colonial drawings unify the text pages. The striking cover illustration of Lincoln framed in the doorway of a log cabin is memorable. Factual picture books for children are often betwixt and between, neither read casually nor sought as research material for reports. If properly placed, Abe Lincoln Remembers can satisfy both camps, though the solemnity of the presentation favors its use as an American history resource.-Mary Ann Carcich, Mattituck-Laurel Public Library, Mattituck, NY Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

School Library Journal

PLB: 0-06-027578-2 This handsome and genuinely appealing collaboration transcends the usual picture-book biography genre. The author and artist impressively succeed in taking the well-known details of this oh-so-familiar life and shaping them into an accessible, affecting personal story. Experienced historical novelist Turner (Dakota Dugout, 1985) chose to tell this remembrance in the imagined voice of Lincoln, setting it on the evening of April 14, 1865, just before he and wife Mary are about to leave for the theatre. Historians have made much of Lincoln's moodiness and melancholy at this moment in time; Turner reflects that conventional wisdom yet she does not make this a maudlin or sappily sentimental tale. Lincoln's voice is simple and steadying. In spare, restrained prose, he recounts his life story in a voice that resonates with an undertone of grief and loss. The effect is simple, fresh, and inspiring. Minor (who previously collaborated with Turner on the haunting 1997 Shaker Hearts) is a prolific illustrator who has risen to the challenge of refreshing and refashioning time- and shop-worn events and images. His handsome and characteristically detailed acrylic paintings are perfectly pitched to Turner's tone, which is increasingly somber. Minor also doubled as the book's designer and makes effective use of white space, employs clean-edged line borders in red and white, and even includes occasional ghost images of Lincoln's distinctive signature. In the book's well-developed and inclusive"historical note," Turner reflects on Lincoln's pivotal role in the nation's history. Finally, she asserts that Lincoln's"words echo down the years to us, calling to us, reminding us of whatitmeans to lead an ethical and courageous life." Memorable. (Picture book/biography. 6-10)

Kirkus Reviews