When Abraham Talked to the Trees - Hardcover

Van Steenwyk, Elizabeth

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0802851916 ISBN 13: 9780802851918

Publisher: Eerdmans Pub Co, 2000

Synopsis

An inspiring glimpse at Abraham Lincoln--who at a young age had to overcome hardship and loss to learn to read and write--reveals the character of a boy who grew up to become an American president known for his brilliance, wit, and humanity.

About this title

From Publishers Weekly

The creators of My Name Is York here shape an amiable portrait of a young Abraham Lincoln as an aspiring scholar and orator: "Reading took last place in Abraham's day, but it was always first place in his heart." Farnsworth bathes the young Lincoln's world in a golden suffused light; sundappled trees offer shade to the boy while he delves into his books. As the hard-working lad labors by day in the fields, he recalls and savors the words he read the previous night. Aesop, the dictionary and the Bible are staples of Abraham's reading list; the latter "nourished and filled him as much as the vittles on the table." The youth also practices his skills as an orator, repeating sermons he has heard while standing on a tree stump in front of his extended family, until they wander away and "nobody was left but the trees." The oil paintings effectively convey the tale's rustic period setting, while emitting an agreeable romanticism (Lincoln is made out to be a good deal better-looking than most historical depictions). This volume treats readers to a narrow though satisfying slice of an oft-documented life. Ages 6-12. (Sept.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Ages 5-8. When American schoolchildren think of Abraham Lincoln, they often envision him as a young boy reading by a fire. This picture-book biography, which actually contains this very image, serves its audience well by extending the cliche into something more authentic. Van Steenwyk focuses on the kinds of books Lincoln probably read, most notably the Bible and Webster's dictionary, and how he benefited from what he learned. She reveals his love for storytelling, and she describes him standing in the woods, practicing orations, with family and friends gathered around listening to sermons they had already heard, word for word. The warm oil paintings, bathed in light, set the mood for this simple, anecdotal text, which is filled with gentle humor. They show Lincoln at various stages of his youth, working in fields, felling trees, scratching words in the snow, and, of course, reading. Shelley Townsend-Hudson
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

About this edition

• Publisher: Eerdmans Pub Co
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 0802851916
• ISBN 13: 9780802851918
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 32
• Illustrator: Farnsworth Bill