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a_manning11's review
5.0
This lengthy book tells the story of Abraham Lincoln's childhood, his education, how he became president and abolished slavery. The illustrations are beautiful, and colorful even though only printed in 5 colors.
Illustrated by the authors.
Caldecott Medal 1940.
Illustrated by the authors.
Caldecott Medal 1940.
mrsbond's review
2.0
Provides insight into Lincoln's entire life, childhood through adulthood. Narrative reads like a series of anecdotes. Language is somewhat dated, Alternating color and black/white illustrations. No bibliography and no further references. Jacket flap indicates that the authors 'read everything they could find about Lincoln's life, his sayings and his ways, and also about the period in which he lived.' Authors have written many picturebooks, including 6 other biographies. This book was the 1940 winner of Caldecott Medal for the most distinguished American picture book for children.
mjfmjfmjf's review
2.0
A Caldecott Award Winning biography of primarily the young life of Abraham Lincoln. And yet it was overly long and it didn't read as being truthful. And the art was only okay.
stuhlsem's review
3.0
Caldecott Winner #3 (1940)
These books (early Caldecotts) are so weird. They're written for children, so they have simplistic grammar and extremely simplistic moral view, but there are so freaking many words on a page! This was like a novella.
I felt like I learned about Abraham Lincoln, which was cool. His assassination was never addressed (spoiler alert, he dies after the end). There was a fair amount of Manifest Destiny.
These books (early Caldecotts) are so weird. They're written for children, so they have simplistic grammar and extremely simplistic moral view, but there are so freaking many words on a page! This was like a novella.
I felt like I learned about Abraham Lincoln, which was cool. His assassination was never addressed (spoiler alert, he dies after the end). There was a fair amount of Manifest Destiny.
kimberlyjerger's review
1.0
*1
1940 Caldecott Medal
Following Abraham Lincoln from his birth, career, and presidency through the end of the Civil War, Ingri and Edgar Parin d'Aulaire's Abraham Lincoln is a disappointing, historically inaccurate, and dated biography.
Emboldening the myths surrounding the heroic Abraham Lincoln, this biography, of the same name, depends on crude generalizations, simplifications, and condescension. For a children’s book, the text was long, awkward, and difficult to follow. The authors fail to mention the names of Lincoln’s mother, stepmother, sons (other than Tad), and step-siblings, while oddly referring to his parents as “the mother” and “the father”. The biography focused more on Lincoln’s life before the presidency, and ignores many of the challenges he faced, both in his personal life and his career, while ending rather abruptly. The authors also fail to include a bibliography of any sorts, especially considering they build Lincoln to be a hero of mythical proportions. Unfortunately, the text’s dealings with people of color was condescending and portrayed Lincoln as a white savior, perpetuating harmful, racist ideas.
The illustrations were rather plain, flat, and incoherent in style. Faces were undistinguishable and unremarkable, including illustrations of Lincoln. The illustrations alternated between black and white pencil drawings and color illustrations. However, the largest failure on the part of the illustrators came in their depictions of people of color, who were drawn in offensive caricatures reinforcing harmful stereotypes. There was little care put into the illustrations of black people—evidenced by the lack of discernible facial features and variance of skin tone, only a jet black that erased all details, with the exception of the eyes and mouth.
Outdated, offensive, and inaccurate, Abraham Lincoln was an immense disappointment on all accounts—a larger-than-life folk tale masquerading as a biography of the United States’ sixteenth president, with lackluster illustrations.
1940 Caldecott Medal
Following Abraham Lincoln from his birth, career, and presidency through the end of the Civil War, Ingri and Edgar Parin d'Aulaire's Abraham Lincoln is a disappointing, historically inaccurate, and dated biography.
Emboldening the myths surrounding the heroic Abraham Lincoln, this biography, of the same name, depends on crude generalizations, simplifications, and condescension. For a children’s book, the text was long, awkward, and difficult to follow. The authors fail to mention the names of Lincoln’s mother, stepmother, sons (other than Tad), and step-siblings, while oddly referring to his parents as “the mother” and “the father”. The biography focused more on Lincoln’s life before the presidency, and ignores many of the challenges he faced, both in his personal life and his career, while ending rather abruptly. The authors also fail to include a bibliography of any sorts, especially considering they build Lincoln to be a hero of mythical proportions. Unfortunately, the text’s dealings with people of color was condescending and portrayed Lincoln as a white savior, perpetuating harmful, racist ideas.
The illustrations were rather plain, flat, and incoherent in style. Faces were undistinguishable and unremarkable, including illustrations of Lincoln. The illustrations alternated between black and white pencil drawings and color illustrations. However, the largest failure on the part of the illustrators came in their depictions of people of color, who were drawn in offensive caricatures reinforcing harmful stereotypes. There was little care put into the illustrations of black people—evidenced by the lack of discernible facial features and variance of skin tone, only a jet black that erased all details, with the exception of the eyes and mouth.
Outdated, offensive, and inaccurate, Abraham Lincoln was an immense disappointment on all accounts—a larger-than-life folk tale masquerading as a biography of the United States’ sixteenth president, with lackluster illustrations.
inthecommonhours's review
4.0
Lovely. Great illustrations and stories. Tempted to get it for my dad, the ultimate Lincoln reader:)
daisycakesco's review
2.0
Generally an enjoyable tale, but I was skeptical of many of the stories of Lincoln's "feats" presented. Where did they get their information? No sources are cited (of course, I'm looking at this from a modern perspective...) I also found some of the illustrations to be rather caricaturish, especially those of the African-Americans.
amanda_sauer's review
4.0
Incredible pictures! They are very detailed and half in color and half in b/w. This book is a wonderful detailed look a Lincoln's life growing up to become President and how he got there.
Must have for the classroom.
Must have for the classroom.
chandlerleighk's review
3.0
This book gave me new insight on Abraham Lincoln's early life. It showed me why Abraham Lincoln is the way he is. I loved all of the illustrations in this story EXCEPT the way they drew African American characters, that was a little disturbing, honestly. I probably would not use this book in my classroom because it was a little long at some points. I feel my students would have a hard time concentrating unless they were very interested in Abraham Lincoln. Since it is a biography, I could allow students to use details from this text if they were writing a research paper on Abraham Lincoln. I may also suggest it to students who are interested in history or presidents.
libraryrobin's review
4.0
A pretty solid biography but it stops before the assassination. Really nice colored pencil and black and white illustrations. The story contains some entertaining anecdotes on his childhood. An antiquated description of slaves may bother to some readers.