Abe Lincoln Crosses a Creek: A Tall, Thin Tale (Introducing His Forgotten Frontier Friend)

by Deborah Hopkinson, John Hendrix (Illustrator)

Overview

Now, I’m sure you know lots about Abraham Lincoln, the sixteenth president of the United States. But what you might not know is that Abe would never have become president if it hadn’t been for Austin Gollaher.

Learn the story of what really happened to Honest Abe when he was just a kid in this nonfiction picture book that's perfect for President's Day and every day!
 
The year is 1816. Abe is only seven years old, and his pal, Austin Gollaher, is ten. Abe and Austin decide to journey down to Knob Creek. The water looks scary and deep, and Austin points out that they don’t know how to swim. Nevertheless, they decide to traverse it. I won’t tell you what happens, but let’s just say that our country wouldn’t be the same if Austin hadn’t been there to help his friend.
 
An ALA-ALSC Notable Children’s Book
A Booklist Editors’ Choice
A Bulletin Blue Ribbon Book
 
“Rewarding on many levels, this high-spirited picture book is an engaging example of metafiction for the younger set.” —Booklist, Starred
 
“A lively, participatory tale. . . . This is a book you should add to your shelves.” —School Library Journal, Starred
 
“It’s a winner.” —The Bulletin, Starred

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781524701581
Publisher:	Random House Children's Books
Publication date:	12/13/2016
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	40
Product dimensions:	9.20(w) x 11.30(h) x 0.20(d)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Deborah Hopkinson is the author of many highly acclaimed picture books, including Beatrix Potter and the Unfortunate Tale of a Borrowed Guinea Pig; Sky Boys: How They Built the Empire State Building, a Boston Globe–Horn Book Honor Book; and Abe Lincoln Crosses a Creek: A Tall, Thin Tale, an ALA-ALSC Notable Children’s Book. She lives in Oregon with her family. Visit her at deborahhopkinson.com.

John Hendrix has collaborated with Deborah Hopkinson on one previous title, A Boy Called Dickens, which was named a Booklist Editors’ Choice and a Bank Street College of Education Best Book of the Year. He has also written and illustrated several picture books, among them Miracle Man: The Story of Jesus; Shooting at the Stars; and John Brown: His Fight for Freedom. Learn more at johnhendrix.com.

Editorial Reviews

Starred Review, School Library Journal, September 2008:
"What you can know for sure is that this is a book you should add to your shelves."

Starred Review, The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, October 2008:
"[J]ust how do you handle a legend? Deborah Hopkinson has found a way, and it's a winner."

Starred Review, Booklist, September 15, 2008:
"This unusual and often amusing picture book offers much more than an illustrated reminiscence."

From the Publisher

K-Gr 3

Hopkinson has created a lively, participatory tale that will surely stand out among the many titles published to honor the 200th anniversary of Lincoln's birth. With a conspiratorial wink at the audience, an omniscient narrator invites readers to watch seven-year-old Abe and his real-life friend Austin Gollaher succumb to the "dare you" lure of a roaring creek and a perilous crossing on a fallen log (an author's note details the genesis of the story). Imagine where we as a nation might be if unsung-hero Austin hadn't been there to rescue impetuous Abraham from his tumble into those tumultuous waters. In dialogic asides and exclamations, the author addresses the illustrator and brings him (or, rather, his pencil-wielding hand) onstage to collaborate and correct, and also speaks to readers, inviting involvement and evoking response. Hendrix's illustrations have a naive and rustic flavor that's in perfect harmony with the gravelly, homespun narrator's voice (keen-eyed readers will find a rendering of the storyteller in the endpaper art). Energetic spreads give a big, broad, horizontal view of the green Kentucky valley setting with its rambling curves, rolling mountains, and rushing waters, and a very effective impression of how long that creek-crossing must have seemed...maybe. "For that's the thing about history," Hopkinson says, "if you weren't there, you can't know for sure." What you can know for sure is that this is a book you should add to your shelves.-Kathy Krasniewicz, Perrot Library, Old Greenwich, CT

School Library Journal

Abe Lincoln's childhood friend Austin Gollaher changed the course of history when he rescued the future president from a swollen Kentucky creek in 1816. That true story is the jumping-off point for this lively exploration of the more slippery aspects of history writing: "For that's the thing about history-if you weren't there, you can't know for sure," says the folksy first-person narrator. To that end, Hopkinson and Hendrix, in wonderful watercolor and pen-and-ink illustrations, explore alternate versions of what might have happened that fateful day. Abe was walking across a tree bridge . . . but, no! Wouldn't he have crawled? The author-as-narrator imagines the reader's responses ("What's that you're saying?"), describes the story-in-progress ("Wait, I'm trying to remember what happens next") and invokes the illustrator, too ("John, could you please stop painting that noisy water?"). While all the sound effects and story interruptions, especially mid-stream, might be effective in a read-aloud session, they could otherwise become frustrating. It may not keep kids out of creeks, but this plucky Kentucky romp may well spawn a future historian or two. (author's note) (Informational picture book. 5-8)

Kirkus Reviews