Abe Lincoln's Hat

by Martha Brenner, Brooke Smart (Illustrator)

Overview

Was Abe Lincoln absent-minded? Indeed! President Lincoln came up with a trick involving his stovepipe hat to nudge his memory! Fascinating anecdotes and historical context enrich this expanded biographical picture book that brings to life one of our nation's most revered presidents.

Long before he became the 16th president, Abe Lincoln started out as a frontier lawyer. He resorted to sticking letters and notes deep inside his hat so they stayed handy. Adapted from the Step into Reading leveled reader of the same name, author Martha Brenner has revised and enriched her original text to include more historical material and resources for those who want to explore this captivating figure further. Illustrator Brooke Smart's clever art makes history more appealing than ever. Including both humor and painful, hard-hitting American history, this new edition traces Lincoln's evolution into a compelling commander-in-chief during a contentious time in our nation's history. Young readers will be intrigued!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780525647171
Publisher:	Random House Children's Books
Publication date:	02/08/2022
Pages:	48
Sales rank:	814,186
Product dimensions:	7.88(w) x 11.25(h) x 0.46(d)
Lexile:	AD720L (what's this?)
Age Range:	3 - 7 Years

About the Author

MARTHA F. BRENNER is the author of four books for children. Years after writing the beginning reader edition of Abe Lincoln's Hat (Step 3 Step Into Reading), she visited Lincoln's home in Illinois. A tall "stovepipe" hat hung in the front hall, as if the great man had returned to be her guide. She and her husband live in Charlotte, North Carolina.

BROOKE SMART received her BFA in illustration from Brigham Young University and started her artistic career as a fine artist. She loves working with traditional media, especially with watercolor, gouache, and on occasion, acrylic paint. Her work appears in children's magazines, children's books, but also on cards and other learning materials. She lives in Utah with her husband and three children. Visit her at brooke-smart.com.

Editorial Reviews

2021-12-03
Reader, beware; this isn’t exactly a story about Abraham Lincoln’s storied stovepipe hat.

Before he became an American legend and the leader of the free world, Lincoln practiced law in Springfield, Illinois, where he struggled to stay organized. His creative solution to records management was to stow the most pressing documents inside his now-famous hat. With this colorful anecdote as a brief preamble, Brenner proceeds to deliver a jam-packed overview of Lincoln’s celebrated legal career leading up to his presidency. The text rapidly moves between recitations of Lincoln’s memorable courtroom cases and exploits as a country lawyer; unfortunately, the pacing sometimes sags. Although historians debate Lincoln’s legacy, this profile presents a largely idealized portrait of the 16th president, upholding his legacy as the Great Emancipator; one double-spread illustration shows Lincoln smiling paternalistically at a group of disturbingly expressionless Black people. To Brenner’s credit, the text does briefly acknowledge the ongoing Colonial displacement of Indigenous peoples that was well underway during the president’s lifetime as well as Lincoln’s “middle position on slavery.” Children should read this work with an adult who can scaffold their exploration of the complex subject matter. The illustrations alternate between color and black-and-white palettes and are rendered, fittingly, in a midcentury-modern style that both hearkens to the past and looks toward the present day.

Misleading title aside, a serviceable addition to the growing shelf of presidential picture books. (afterword, sources, notes) (Picture book biography. 7-12)

Kirkus Reviews