Martha Brenner

A fun and educational biography, Abe Lincoln's Hat uses a unique framework to point out many human sides of Lincoln's life that I didn't know previously. Kids will enjoy how he wasn't organized and some of the slice-of-life stories about pranks and hardships of working a traveling circuit. The book addresses his political growth and development on the issues of slavery and managing a divided country in ways that educate without condescending to young readers. It glosses over the Civil War a little too much, even for younger readers, but has great info and picture at the end of the book that partially make up for that. It is a quality addition to a section on Lincoln or the era. Appropriate even for very young readers, good for history, biography, and just as a story.… (meer)