Lincoln Shot: A President’s Life Remembered

This book stands tall literally (12x18 inches) as well as in quality. Designed to look like a yellowed memorial issue of the 19th century “National News” one year after the assassination, this account starts with the shooting and recovery of the assassins. Then it follows Lincoln’s life, starting with his youth, and continues with his marriage, his political career, and the Civil War. Bing’s illustrations are sure to engage young readers. They include period-style advertisements, wood-cut engravings and archival photographs. I am currently planning a 4/5th grade book club using some of the materials that we obtained from an ALA We the People Bookshelf grant relating to Lincoln and the theme “All Men are Created Equal.” This volume will add to what their teacher and I hope will be an authentic experience. I must note, however, that I will proceed with caution to help them understand that this realistic memorial should not be taken literally. One of their teacher’s requests for our study is to help his students understand the passage of time from the Civil War to segregation beacuse he feels that they do not yet think linearly. We’ll see what happens!

The Lincolns: a Scrapbook Look at Abraham and Mary. By Candace Fleming.

Gr 6 Up–
A good bit of research work went into this book. Although I don't really care for the type of layout used, it is true to the scrapbook concept. SLJ says: "Fleming presents side-by-side portraits of the famous first couple, combining telling anecdotes and large and small details to reveal aspects of the Lincolns’ personalities and temperaments. Primary sources and high-quality archival photos and reproductions add significantly..." I think the brown tones may put off some children who expect everything to be in living color and in photograph format. Some fascinating facts can be shared when book-talking this title. For research, I'm not sure how it will work, but I am about to find out as 8th grade begins their research papers for the year.