Looking at Lincoln
Just what is Abraham Lincoln’s legacy? In this intimate portrait, a young girl walking in the park passes a man who looks like Lincoln, heads to the library, and dives into research so compelling that she has to share it with us. What follows is an account that hits the familiar notes, embellished with circular, childlike wonderings. We all know about Lincoln’s wife and family. But our narrator wonders if they had nicknames for one another. We know he was consumed with the fight for freedom and justice. But our narrator wonders if he thought about what to get his little son for his birthday, too. The facts are laid out in an austere black typeface and the wonderings in loose, hand-lettered script, with certain words in color for emphasis. Kalman’s primitive polychrome illustrations marry the two narratives into a meaningful whole, combining unexpected color choice and sophisticated composition for powerful emotional impact. Comprehensive endnotes fill in more facts and cite sources, but this is as much a personal impression of Lincoln’s legacy as an informational biography. Grades K-3. --Thom Barthelmess