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37th out of 76 books
—
226 voters
Abraham Lincoln
America was at a crossroads in 1939 as they debated whether to join the Allies in their battle against Hitler's relentless march across Europe. As European immigrants the d'Aulaires felt keenly the importance of standing against injustice, and saw in Lincoln the archetypal American hero as he stood against the injustice of slavery. It was this spirit they hoped to exemplif...more
64 pages
Published
(first published 1939)
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The pictures are the most enjoyable part of this book about Lincoln and why I'm giving this book two stars instead of one. My favorite picture came on page 18.
Many of the anecdotes in this book were familiar to me, probably ingrained from visiting many Lincoln sites and reading other books. The text is written in dialect.
As a former history major I was bothered by several things. I am probably looking at this book with too much of a modern viewpoint. This book doesn't contain any sources. Major...more
Many of the anecdotes in this book were familiar to me, probably ingrained from visiting many Lincoln sites and reading other books. The text is written in dialect.
As a former history major I was bothered by several things. I am probably looking at this book with too much of a modern viewpoint. This book doesn't contain any sources. Major...more
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I had heard of the authors/illustrators before as they had written my favorite book on Norse mythology. This book has their awesome illustrations as well, which they did with a technique called stone lithography. This book won the 1940 Caldecott Award. Considering the only other book I've read from that year is "Madeline" by Ludwig Bemelmans, I don't have a lot of comparison as to whether it deserved to win or not. I thought the story was good, though a bit longer than it needed to be, and was s...more
Mar 15, 2012
Esther Barajikian
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
children-s-literature
"Abraham Lincoln" is an award-winning (Caldecott Metal) biography picture book intended for primary and intermediate readers. It tells the life story of this important American hero from his birth in the wilderness in Kentucky through the reunion of the states following the civil war. The book does not cover the tragic end of his life, which in my opinion is great. The book presents Lincoln as a compassionate and at times, fun-loving leader who faithfully served this country through some of it m...more
1940 Caldecott Medal Winner
Black and white illustrations alternate with color ones--I read for a children's lit class that this was often the case before color illustrations became less expensive to print. It looks like the drawings were done in pencil and color pencil. Pretty realistic depictions, although the black people look mostly the same and have goofy "blackface" faces--not exactly flattering.
Abraham Lincoln grows up, beats up some pirates, studies law, and ultimately becomes president i...more
Black and white illustrations alternate with color ones--I read for a children's lit class that this was often the case before color illustrations became less expensive to print. It looks like the drawings were done in pencil and color pencil. Pretty realistic depictions, although the black people look mostly the same and have goofy "blackface" faces--not exactly flattering.
Abraham Lincoln grows up, beats up some pirates, studies law, and ultimately becomes president i...more
Ricardo Bizarro
Fictionalized Biography
Ingri & Edgar, Parin d’Aulaire. New York: Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group, Inc.
1957. Print
Pages not numbered
Summary: This book starts out like a Christian Christmas story. The setting begins in the
Kentucky countryside where Abraham Lincoln first sees the world on a Sunday morning. It goes
through his life in a fictional way stating his likes and dislikes. He takes a big interest in learning
and pursuing an education. But because his family keeps mov...more
Fictionalized Biography
Ingri & Edgar, Parin d’Aulaire. New York: Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group, Inc.
1957. Print
Pages not numbered
Summary: This book starts out like a Christian Christmas story. The setting begins in the
Kentucky countryside where Abraham Lincoln first sees the world on a Sunday morning. It goes
through his life in a fictional way stating his likes and dislikes. He takes a big interest in learning
and pursuing an education. But because his family keeps mov...more
As the summary says, "America was at a crossroads in 1939 as they debated whether to join the Allies in their battle against Hitler's relentless march across Europe. As European immigrants the d'Aulaires felt keenly the importance of standing against injustice, and saw in Lincoln the archetypal American hero as he stood against the injustice of slavery." While this book is dated and has a tendency to glorify Lincoln as a hero and a savior, we still enjoyed it. I guess I think that despite his de...more
I have read a number of treatments of the life of Abraham Lincoln, but this is one of my favorites. The artistry of the illustrations, for one thing, is awesome; in my view, this book outshines in that regard most others that have won the Caldecott Medal. There's a depth and wholesomeness to the drawings that gives them words to speak directly to the reader, as is the case for the illustrations in many of the greatest picture books that have ever been written.
I very much like the fact that the...more
I very much like the fact that the...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
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Jul 27, 2012
S. J.
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
Parents and children, people wanting to introduce Lincoln and history to children
Recommended to S. by:
Library
Given the amount of time, this is an incomplete review based on remembered thoughts.
I read this book while in late elementary-early middle school and can remember thinking the pictures were better than the writing. That is not to say the writing is bad. It is really good; however, at that age I had read several books concerning the American Civil War in general and Lincoln in particular and so none of it was a surprise or really enlightening. Even then, though, I could see where for most childre...more
I read this book while in late elementary-early middle school and can remember thinking the pictures were better than the writing. That is not to say the writing is bad. It is really good; however, at that age I had read several books concerning the American Civil War in general and Lincoln in particular and so none of it was a surprise or really enlightening. Even then, though, I could see where for most childre...more
Nov 22, 2010
Joan Innes
added it
A great book, a really interesting and easy read while still being very informative. This book focuses a lot on the youth and formative adult years of Lincoln, although it tells his whole life's story. The colored pencil illustrations add much to the story with country and city scenes and a tall lanky figure and surrounding friends and family throughout. This story gives further insight into the good character attributes of Lincoln. It also tells of difficulties encountered in his personal life...more
Normally books on Presidential History would be placed in my non-fiction category. This one, however, has so many taken out of context and exaggerated "facts" about Abraham Lincoln that I cannot list it as anything resembling non-fiction. I would never profess to be a scholar of all things Lincoln, but I have read enough to be able to call "bull-#hit" on several of the things mentioned in this book. How did this get an award? Is fact checking not a part of the editing process?? What’s worse is t...more
I found this book to be good, but contained too much information. The book was too long in my opinion for a simple picture book and would lose the readers interest before even getting into the important parts of Lincoln’s life. However, the information in this book is really good and I was so impressed with how well the pictures alone told a story. The pictures seemed so real and made the story come to life while reading. After reading this story, I felt that I actually knew who Abraham Lincoln...more
As an adult, I enjoyed reading this book. I intend to read it to my five and six year old sons. This book has great illustrations and focuses heavily on Lincoln's life before he becomes president. This is a good introduction to Abe's life, but definitely not a complete history lesson. Though it portrays Lincoln as an admirable, "honest" man, it also demonstrates his humility by detailing several of his mistakes and poor business choices. The story presents slavery as the only reason Lincoln went...more
A historically inaccurate, condescending, faux-folk history that talks down to children and pretties up Abraham Lincoln's life.
What is it about the 1930s that encouraged people to create fake histories? Colonial Williamsburg dates to the 1930s, as does the whole centennial-of-the-origin-of-baseball myth of Abner Doubleday (which would have surprised Jane Austen, who wrote of it in England in the 1790s). I don't even want to get into European fake folksy history of the 1930s.
So fine, here's a myt...more
What is it about the 1930s that encouraged people to create fake histories? Colonial Williamsburg dates to the 1930s, as does the whole centennial-of-the-origin-of-baseball myth of Abner Doubleday (which would have surprised Jane Austen, who wrote of it in England in the 1790s). I don't even want to get into European fake folksy history of the 1930s.
So fine, here's a myt...more
The edition is actually from 1957. This version has been "amplified" from the 1940 Caldecott Medal winning edition. The book begins at his birth and ends with Lincoln sitting on a chair at the end of The Civil War. One of the family cabins did not have windows or doors and they had to enter and exit through a hole in the wall. Abe loved to read and would work hard. His first love, Ann Rutledge, died before they could be married. Miss Mary Todd knew that she would marry the president of the count...more
This book is very well illustrated on every single page. Throughout the entire book, there are illustrations that are very large and take up entire pages. The illustrations switch from being black and white to being full color. While this book is very long and the text is quite substantial, I still feel like it could be read to students because the illustrations would keep them engaged in the story. Also, Abraham Lincoln is a huge part of our country’s history and this story shows the life journ...more
This is a great book for young readers to introduce them to one of our great presidents. This book starts in Kentucky where he group up to his career as president. The illustrations add to the story and help support the timeline. It uses simple language with concise detail to illustrate Abraham Lincoln's life to children. The details found in the illustrations add to the stories setting and emotions. I would use this book in a kindergarten through first grade classroom due to its simplicity to e...more
Done in the painstaking process of lithographs, this book achieves very rich illustrations. Seriously, it like 8 million steps of drawing on stone to get one print. And this is a long book. These were particularly note worthy since they used 200 lbs. stones to this very long book. ( However, the different editions of the printings vary greatly.)
But is a work of it's 1940 time period with problematic depictions of woman, African Americans and Native Americans. It is also very text heavy, with no...more
But is a work of it's 1940 time period with problematic depictions of woman, African Americans and Native Americans. It is also very text heavy, with no...more
I thought this book would be a great book to read to thrid graders that are learning about Abraham Lincoln because it is a longer book and gives some insight on his life without getting into areas of politics that children would not be able to grasp just yet. The pictures in this book were the best part. Each picture was diffent than the others. Some had a lot of detail and others looked like just pencil drawings. I felt the book was a little on the long side. I thought they explained a lot abou...more
I could see how kids of the day would love the stories of Lincoln's pranks and "country ways" even after he became a man of the city. And the illustrations (color and B&W) would have engaged many children.
However this book felt like larger than life folklore (almost tall tale like) trying to masquerade as biography.
Also the book felt didactic in its portrayal of Lincoln protecting a "peaceful Indian" and feeling slavery was cruel. And I feel that it conveys a message (from the day) at those...more
However this book felt like larger than life folklore (almost tall tale like) trying to masquerade as biography.
Also the book felt didactic in its portrayal of Lincoln protecting a "peaceful Indian" and feeling slavery was cruel. And I feel that it conveys a message (from the day) at those...more
2 likes · like · see review
This book is a long tale of Abraham Lincoln’s life from childhood to his presidency. From his mother’s death to him deciding to run for president. The illustrations were interesting because the pages altered from color to black and white. Each page stood out in its unique way, the pages with color were extremely bright with detail where as many of the black and white pages did not contain as much detail. The story was very well written and the illustrations helped portray the emotion of Abraham’...more
As you would expect from a Caldecott Winner, this is a beautifully illustrated book. The pictures range in size from whole page to small, some are in black-and-white and some are in color. And all are wonderful.
The text is good as well. This is a great biography of Abraham Lincoln as well as a great picture book. Although the text is written for children, there are a lot of words per page, so the very young may need some additional summarizing. I didn't expect my preschooler to sit through the w...more
The text is good as well. This is a great biography of Abraham Lincoln as well as a great picture book. Although the text is written for children, there are a lot of words per page, so the very young may need some additional summarizing. I didn't expect my preschooler to sit through the w...more
Feb 05, 2012
Dolly
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
parents reading with their children
Shelves:
2012,
childrens,
biography,
caldecott-medal,
nonfiction,
other-usa,
native-american,
washington-dc,
military
This book offers an interesting look at the life of Abraham Lincoln. The narrative is rather long and the illustrations are very old fashioned, but considering this book was published in 1939, it was probably more contemporary back then. We enjoyed reading this book, but I recommend it for older children who can sit still long enough to read it. We've enjoyed reading books by Ingri D'Aulaire and Edgar Parin D'Aulaire and will look for more at our local library.
We have now finished the Caldecott...more
We have now finished the Caldecott...more
This was a very well-written version of Abraham Lincoln's story from birth to presidency. It is written with lots of details of his life, from playing jokes as a child, to reading books, to becoming a lawyer, and then becoming President and saving the union. This is the first Caldecott award winner to include pictures with color, and that really made it stand out for me. Every other page spread included colored illustrations, which made them really pop out more and bring the story to life.
This is a book about Abraham Lincoln's life from the time he was a baby to the time after the civil war ended and the slaves were free. The pictures go back and forth between color and black and white. You can distinguish details and teaxtures in some of the pictures. this is a good book for 3rd grade and up. i feel it is good for those age groups because of the length of the book. It trully is a good book to use when teaching about Abraham Lincoln and for children to use as a resource.
This book is on the long side, but still short for a history, so it ends up being a larger-than-life tale about the over-sized man, president and pillar in the American story and mythology. The illustrations that get the full space of the over-sized pages to spread out have a two-dimensional and folk Americana feel. It is surprising that the book ends without a mention of his assassination. 2.4 stars (not much for a Caldecott medalist, but 1940 was a very lean year in my opinion).
Tags: Caldecott, Lincoln, childhood, story book, lithographs, biography,
Tells the story of Abraham Lincoln from his birth to the end of the Civil War. Great deal of text and illustrations interspersed throughout. Illustrations are lithographs. In the current copy, color has been added as new reproduction methods have come about.
Caldecott Award 1940
"Abraham Lincoln" by Ingri and Edgar Parin D'Aulaire, Doubleday & Company: Garden City, NY, 1939, 1957.
Tells the story of Abraham Lincoln from his birth to the end of the Civil War. Great deal of text and illustrations interspersed throughout. Illustrations are lithographs. In the current copy, color has been added as new reproduction methods have come about.
Caldecott Award 1940
"Abraham Lincoln" by Ingri and Edgar Parin D'Aulaire, Doubleday & Company: Garden City, NY, 1939, 1957.
Dated biography of Abraham Lincoln that felt kind of glossed or fictionalized to me. Among other things, Lincoln's young adulthood in this story makes him seem an awful lot like Paul Bunyan. The story ends with the end of the Civil War, and since Lincoln's death wasn't very long after that, it felt strange and abrupt to end the story there.
I have fond childhood memories of a D'Aulaire book chronicling Greek mythology, but this one leaves me unimpressed.
I have fond childhood memories of a D'Aulaire book chronicling Greek mythology, but this one leaves me unimpressed.
When I was banished to the library in Kindergarten because I already knew how to read, this was the book that started it all...my strange obsession with Abe Lincoln. This book had just come in. The PTA mom was putting the stickers and cover protector on it when I spotted it. I thought it would be so neat to be the first one to read a book, this book. Now as an adult this could be a contributing factor to my love of biographies and memoirs.
2 likes · like · see review
This was the first Caldecott book I ever read - I checked it out of the East Farms [Otis Orchards] Elementary library when I was in first grade back in the 79-80 school year.
As far as younger kids reading this goes, it's a long book but, in comparing with the younger age group, the authoritative story on Abraham Lincoln.
I own my own copy because of Shelton Timberland Library screwing me over a bit: I had checked it out in '96 and read it to my former stepkid who was three at the time. After retu...more
As far as younger kids reading this goes, it's a long book but, in comparing with the younger age group, the authoritative story on Abraham Lincoln.
I own my own copy because of Shelton Timberland Library screwing me over a bit: I had checked it out in '96 and read it to my former stepkid who was three at the time. After retu...more
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