BOOK: Looking at Lincoln - Phenomenal Informative Text for Young Readers

[Marcy Prager]

Looking at Lincoln, by Maira Kalman, is an amazing depiction of Abraham Lincoln with magnificent colored pictures and not only factual information, but the "thinking" about Lincoln by a small girl who is looking at his statue in the Lincoln Monument.  As she "wonders" about Lincoln, some factual answers are provided.  This was the first book that my not-so-much beginner ELL student wanted to read in English.  History is powerful, and if it is told in this way, it is accessible to all students.  I made the child a blank map of the United States, and the child kept track of the northern "ideas" and the southern "ideas."  This book seamlessly tells about the "suffering" as an effect of war as well as what the Emancipation Proclamation is all about.  I hope to see more books written like this one.  More readings like this will prepare students for the "informative text" section of the new Common Core Standards.