Abe Lincoln Remembers - Hardcover

Turner, Ann

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0060275774 ISBN 13: 9780060275778

Publisher: HarperCollins, 2000

Synopsis

I told Mary that tonight is a time to be happy. As we wait to go see a play, I think again of that little house, the small window, the piece of sky with two birds and one squirrel. How much has come to pass since then.

One evening in 1865 President Abraham Lincoln sits quietly in the White House. He is waiting for his wife, Mary. Tonight they will go to the theater to see a play. It has been a long time since the President has allowed himself an evening of rest.

While he waits, he thinks back on his life and the long journey from a small log cabin in Kentucky to the stately White House in Washington, a journey filled with the greatest joys and the deepest sorrows.

Extraordinarily moving text and stunning, historically accurate paintings join together to present a fictional portrait of one of the most revered figures in American history.

About this title

Review:

From his humble beginnings in a small log cabin, young Abe Lincoln knew "that being tall is not enough to make your way in this world." He worked hard on a flatboat, in a general store, and then studying to become a lawyer, eventually making his way into politics. Along the way he married and had three boisterous sons: "They were like balls bounding down a road, and people said they had no manners or discipline. I thought happiness more important than manners, though I didn't like it when Tad drove his cart and goats down the White House hall." Deeply relieved when the Civil War is over, Abe Lincoln is finally ready to be happy on the fateful night that he sets out to Ford's Theater to see a play with his wife.

The focus of this simple picture book is not on Lincoln's death--the book concludes before Abe and Mary even leave the White House--but rather on the admirable life he led. Although many are well acquainted with the legendary story of young Abe's rough upbringing in Kentucky and his unquenchable thirst for learning, Ann Turner's fictionalized biography, told in a fresh and immediate first-person point of view, adds a sweet note of poignancy and humanity to one of America's greatest heroes. With his historically accurate paintings, award-winning illustrator Wendell Minor captures the expressions and experiences of a man who, at the conclusion of the war, sees "how sorrow has dug lines in my cheeks." (Ages 6 to 9) --Emilie Coulter

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.

About this edition

• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 0060275774
• ISBN 13: 9780060275778
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 32
• Illustrator: Minor Wendell