Synergy: Abraham Lincoln and Poetry

Most people know Abraham Lincoln as the 16th president of the United States. But, most aren’t aware that he was also a poet. Abraham Lincoln enjoyed reading and sometimes even writing poetry as a young man.

Read the recently published children's picture book, then learn more at the website:

THE SUPERLATIVE A. LINCOLN by Eileen R. Meyer and illustrated by Dave Szalay contains eighteen poems about Abraham Lincoln along with background information and an illustration for each poem. An author’s note encourages children to write their own poetry.

LINCOLN AS POET is a web guide from the Library of Congress that explores Lincoln’s life as an avid reader of poetry. It also shares surviving verses written by Lincoln as a teen including both digitized documents in his own handwriting along with transcriptions.

LINCOLN AS POET
https://bit.ly/35eVhSf

ARC courtesy of Charlesbridge.

Website Review: Remembering Lincoln

REMEMBERING LINCOLN explores the reactions of people to the Lincoln assassination and the stories behind these responses.

Produced by Ford’s Theatre, the “Explore the Story” section describes the circumstances of President Abraham Lincoln’s death and the reactions that came from people in all walks of life. A timeline, map of responses, and focus on specific people are intended to help students immerse themselves in the time period and the personal reactions of people to the Lincoln Assassination.

The “Browse All Responses” section contains hundreds of primary source documents including photographs, objects, newspaper articles, diary entries and other items that remember Lincoln.

The “Curated Collections” section provides a few focused examples such as memorial cards, children’s reactions, and mourning ribbons.

Librarians will find this website to be useful in teaching about primary source documents. By focusing on a particular event, librarians and history teachers can explore the wide range of primary sources produced at the time and help student reflect on the various perspectives represented in these documents.

To visit the website, go to http://rememberinglincoln.fords.org/.

Book Review: The Lincoln Project

THE LINCOLN PROJECT by Dan Gutman is the first book in the exciting new time-travel adventure series titled Flashback Four.

Four children are invited to go back in time to take a photo of Lincoln giving the Gettysburg Address. Along the way, they develop an understanding of history in general along with the specific time period of the adventure.

This fast-paced, light-hearted adventure immerses readers in history using an approach that will appeal to a broad audience.

The book includes an author’s note, further readings and websites, as well as places to visit.

Librarians will find fans of Dan Gutman flocking to his new middle grades series. Readers will particularly enjoy how the narrator jumps into the story providing historical information. The diverse cast of characters and unique approach will keep readers coming back for more.

To learn more about the author, go to http://dangutman.com/

Published by HarperCollins on February 23, 2016. ARC courtesy of the publisher.