Honest Abe - Softcover

Kunhardt, Edith

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0688158382 ISBN 13: 9780688158385

Publisher: Greenwillow Books, 1998

Synopsis

From a log cabin in Kentucky to the White House, the life of Abraham Lincoln is an inspiring saga of courage and dedication. Simple words and timeless pictures weave the important threads of Lincoln's life into a colorful folk tapestry that illustrates a true American pioneer of justice.

"Zeldis's oversized gouache paintings give this picture-book biography a folkloric look that suits its larger-than-life subject. Kunhardt's brief text avoids any fictionalization and presents the important events in Lincoln's youth and many careers in a straightforward, objective fashion.... A praiseworthy effort."School Library Journal.

"Hits the high spots and finds time for memorable tidbits... Consider multiple copies."Booklist (starred review).

About this title

About the Author:

Malcah Zeldis, illustrator of Martin Luther King, lives in New York City. In Her Own Words...

"For many years I secretly wanted to paint and become an artist, but I was afraid to study art because I felt I had no talent. It was only when my children were grown and away from the house and I found myself with time on my hands that I dared to begin to paint without expecting anyone else to like or approve of what I was doing. When I finally showed my work to art critics and connoisseurs, I was amazed by how eagerly it was accepted.

"After this initial acceptance I began to paint furiously, trying to make up for the lost time when I had been inhibited and unable to work. The images were flowing out of me with incredible speed. Now, some twenty-three years later, my work is in seventeen museum collections, including the Smithsonian, where one painting is on permanent display.

"Again to my amazement, these last few years my work has taken a new turn as I have been illustrating books for children. I am deeply grateful for this new means of expression I have found. It has enriched and deepened my experience, and I look forward to the continuation of my creative life."

From Publishers Weekly:

Striking folk-art paintings more than compensate for a thuddingly flat text in this picture book biography of Abraham Lincoln. Apparently written to fit the illustrations, the choppy, teacherly prose often hinders the narrative drive, as in this description of Lincoln and Mary Todd's courtship: "Mary was twenty-one years old. Abe was thirty. Mary was popular. She liked dancing and spoke French. Abe and Mary were married." In this vein Kunhardt ( Pat the Cat ; Red Day, Green Day ) reports all the familiar episodes: Lincoln's childhood in a log cabin, his debates with Douglas, the assassination by "a man who was furious at the President for freeing the slaves." But the paintings vivify the story, commanding attention with vibrant greens, blues, reds and yellows. No staid portraits here! Placed one to each oversize page with generous trim as if hung on a wall, they are seemingly unpolished but genuinely American, much like the man they commemorate. Ages 5-up.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Greenwillow Books
• Publication date: 1998
• ISBN 10: 0688158382
• ISBN 13: 9780688158385
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 32
• Illustrator: Zeldis Malcah