Have You Heard This Story About Abe Lincoln ?

UndergroundLibrarian@evpl — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 17:27:00 GMT

There's a new picture book about Abe Lincoln. Deborah Hopkinson has written Abe Lincoln Crosses a Creek; A Tall, Thin Tale (Introducing His Forgotten Frontier Friend). John Hendrix has drawn the pictures. When Abe was seven , he and his 3-years-older friend Austin wanted to get to the other side of Knob Creek, but the water was very high and neither one of them could swim. Abe dared Austin to cross on a log, and he did. But when Abe started across, he fell into the water, and Austin rescued him.

The interesting part of the book is its illustrations and the way Hopkinson relates the story. She tells it as if she is sitting next to a bunch of people, just talking to them. Maybe it happened this way, she says, and then again, maybe it happened this other way, and she tells both ways. In the meantime, John Hendrix is busily drawing each version, and often we see his hand in the bottom right corner of the page, holding a a paintbrush or a pencil, drawing the double page spread.

Deborah Hopkinson says there's a moral to this story, and she gives us a couple choices. What do you think the moral should be?

Would this be a good candidate for this year's Caldecott Award?

Kids Blog : picture books, Abraham Lincoln

Have You Heard This Story About Abe Lincoln ?