Abe Lincoln's Dream

This post is part of Nonfiction Monday
hosted today by Booktalking

and joins It's Monday!
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at Teacher Mentor Texts

Roaring Brook Press

(pub. 10.16.12) 32 pages 

A True Tale with A Cherry On Top

A uthor and illustrator: Lane Smith

C haracter: fictional girl with ghost of Abe Lincoln

O verview from the jacket flap: 

      "How long should a man's legs be? [answer: long enough to reach the floor]

       The 16th president had recurring dreams, liked corny jokes, and now his ghost paces the White House fretting about the state of the union. It takes a a little girl on a school tour - armed with a few corny jokes of her own - to answer his questions and settle his spirit.

        From one of our most celebrated picture book artists comes an affectionate ode to our most celebrated president and the nation he shaped. Inspired by true stories and White House trivia, Lane Smiths' Lincoln takes flight with characteristic humor and extraordinary artistry."

        

T antalizing taste: 

           "Then one day a girl wandering from her tour discovered a tall man standing over the Gettysburg address.'

           'Hi,' said Quincy.

           'Hello, child,' he said.

            He was dressed in black from hat to boot, but she wasn't frightened; he had a long face that made her feel sorry for him.

            'Are you lost?' she asked.

            'I don't think so,' he said, walking through a wall.

         

and something more: I was intrigued to learn that Lane Smith's wife, Molly Leach, is the designer of his creative whimsical books, including Abe Lincoln's Dream. I loved what he wrote about her on his website: [She's the] greatest book designer working today. She has designed nearly all of my books. When she designed the Stinky Cheese Man back in 1992 folks called it a 'watershed moment.' Suddenly every designer wanted to make books with crazy type and upside-down pages. The problem is it is very hard to do unless you know how. Molly knows how. She is also very funny and very pretty...She makes everything I do 100 times better but since most people don’t know what a designer does, I usually get all the credit. This isn’t fair." Well, here's to both Molly Leach AND Lane Smith -- a great team!