''Abraham Lincoln'' is a biography written and illustrated by

Ingri and Edgar Parin d'Aulaire Ingri d'Aulaire (December 27, 1904 – October 24, 1980) and Edgar Parin d'Aulaire (September 30, 1898 – May 1, 1986) were American writers and illustrators of children's books who worked primarily as a team, completing almost all of their well ...

about

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation thro ...

. Originally published by Doubleday, it was the recipient of the

Caldecott Medal The Randolph Caldecott Medal, frequently shortened to just the Caldecott, annually recognizes the preceding year's "most distinguished American picture book for children". It is awarded to the illustrator by the Association for Library Service ...

for

illustration An illustration is a decoration, interpretation or visual explanation of a text, concept or process, designed for integration in print and digital published media, such as posters, flyers, magazines, books, teaching materials, animations, vid ...

in 1940.American Library Association
Caldecott Medal Winners, 1938 - Present
URL accessed 27 May 2009.

Plot

''Abraham Lincoln'' story is based on the life of the 16th President of the United States, focusing on his early years and the road he took to manhood.

Production and reprinting

Ingri and Edgar Parin d'Aulaire often explored the environment of their historical subjects and, for ''Abraham Lincoln'', they spent time camping and sketching in

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...

and

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

to capture the feel of Lincoln's roots. The original celebrated artwork was created by stone

lithography Lithography () is a planographic method of printing originally based on the immiscibility of oil and water. The printing is from a stone (lithographic limestone) or a metal plate with a smooth surface. It was invented in 1796 by the German a ...

. By 1957, this was a cumbersome printing process and the d'Aulaire's were asked by their publisher, Doubleday, to reproduce their artwork on acetate for later editions of the book. For the 75th anniversary of the book's Caldecott recognition, Beautiful Feet Books published a new edition of the book in 2015. Scanning original proofs from a 1939 edition of ''Abraham Lincoln'' kept at

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

, the publishers wished to recapture the richness and subtlety of the original illustrations. Other minor changes were made to the original artwork and text to reflect historical accuracy and contemporary sensibilities to race and culture. The 2015 reprint was featured in ''

Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of B ...

'' on December 1, 2015."Small Calif. Press Revives Caldecott Book on Abraham Lincoln" by Anisse Gross
''

'', Dec 01, 2015

References

{{Caldecott Medal American picture books Caldecott Medal–winning works Children's books about Abraham Lincoln 1939 children's books Beautiful Feet books Biographies of Abraham Lincoln Children's books set in Indiana Children's books set in Kentucky Children's books set in the 19th century