Thursday, April 1, 2010

Lincoln: A Photobiography


by Russell Freedman

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 1989

Genre: Children's nonfiction; biography

Reading Level: Ages 8-12

160 pages

This biography about President Lincoln is a really eye opening read about our historical president. The book starts with his childhood in Kentucky with harsh winters, farming, and very little schooling. It talks about how Lincoln was well liked and known to be comical. At the age of 23 he decided to run for Illinois state legislature. His first political run, and he lost. In the next section of the book it talks about Lincoln teaching himself how to practice law and the many other elections he ran for, some he got, most he didn't. It also talks about his marriage to Mary Todd on November 4, 1842. It goes on to talk about his children, all boys who weren't disciplined because is Lincoln's eyes they were perfect. The next section of the book talks about the slavery conflict, North versus South, and Lincoln's stance to not halt it but do what he can to keep it from spreading. Lincoln is elected president and enacts the emancipation proclamation. The next section talks about the Civil War after the South breaks off. It talks about how Lincoln participated and reacted to all the different battles. The book ends with the story about Lincoln's assassination on April 14, 1865 in the Ford's theater. Then there are a bunch of interesting quotes from Lincoln that really show his character.

I would recommend this book to a child interested in history.

I feel that the only controversy that could come from this book would be parents complaining about the graphic pictures of the war scenes.

I really liked this book, i don't usually like history books, but this one really enticed me. It was really nice to know that Lincoln was human, and definitely didn't succeed at everything he attempted to do.

My rating 4 out of 5

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