New Book Teaches Early Readers About Abraham Lincoln

Historians and most of the people often rank Abraham Lincoln as America’s biggest president. There is little doubt that he’s extensively admired for the work he did to finish slavery and protect the Union.

But past these two vital factors, most Americans know little else about Lincoln’s life.

A 2013 ballot by Participant discovered that two-thirds of Americans admitted to figuring out “little to nothing” about him. Eighty-three p.c of respondents thought that the Emancipation Proclamation freed all of the slaves within the United States. (It solely freed the slaves in areas underneath Confederate management.) Another 40% believed that Lincoln was a Democrat. (Google solely confuses issues when it lists his celebration affiliation as “National Union Party,” which was a short lived rebranding of the Republican Party through the 1864 presidential election.) In truth, Lincoln was the primary Republican to be elected president.

As a professor of American research at Christopher Newport University I spend a substantial amount of time instructing my college students about Lincoln. I require them to learn Lincoln’s speeches and letters within the hope that they are going to come to understand the greatness of his thoughts, the political constraints through which he operated, and the ethical compass that led him to battle for the ideas of the Declaration of Independence.

Each summer time I additionally educate these kinds of classes to teams of highschool academics across the nation. I discover that academics are keen to higher perceive Lincoln’s life and legacy and to search out new methods to convey that info of their lecture rooms.

In addition to instructing about Lincoln, over the previous 15 years, I’ve printed many books about Lincoln and the Civil War period. In the previous 11 years I’ve additionally had two stunning daughters. At night time I typically discover myself studying or telling bedtime tales—generally about historical past, however extra typically in regards to the antics of speaking animals.

Recently, I made a decision to convey these two features of my life collectively by working with my women to write down a enjoyable and thrilling kids’s guide that melds historical past and journey into an academic however energetic chapter guide for early readers.

“My Day with Abe Lincoln” tells the story of a 3rd grader named Lucy who doesn’t wish to go to highschool on Monday morning. (For mother and father of younger kids this may sound all too acquainted!) She throws a match and attire within the craziest outfit she will provide you with, hoping that her mother and father gained’t ship her to highschool wanting so bizarre.

When she places on the highest hat from her brother’s magic set she travels again in time to Indiana within the 1820s. She doesn’t realize it but, however her mission within the story is to present the hat to Lincoln.

After assembly Abe and his sister Sarah on a mud path within the woods, Lucy attends faculty with them. At the top of the day, she goes to the Lincoln cabin the place she meets Abe’s father and stepmom. Along the way in which Lucy learns extraordinary, fascinating, true tales in regards to the future president—like that he struggled with spelling and that he virtually died a number of instances when he was a toddler.

By the time younger readers end “My Day with Abe Lincoln,” they are going to know extra about Lincoln’s childhood than most adults do. Children will even hopefully really feel a connection to Lincoln as they see the hurdles he needed to overcome to turn into our nation’s biggest chief.

I spent years researching the history behind this time-travel journey, and I like to inform those that “My Day with Abe Lincoln” is traditionally correct, apart from the time journey! Parents and academics who wish to learn this guide with their kids or college students can discover a free curriculum guide on the Reedy Press web site that provides the historical past behind every chapter. The information additionally offers main sources and dialogue questions that can be utilized at school.

As we have fun the 215th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln’s start, I hope that we are able to reignite a way of surprise about him in younger Americans. They must know the story of the little boy who grew up in poverty and rural isolation—with out training, who misplaced his mom at age 9, and who virtually died a number of instances—and but who grew to become probably the most admired and revered of Americans.

We owe it to him, and to ourselves, to better understand his life and legacy in order that we are able to actually respect his accomplishments as president.

This article was originally published by RealClearEducation and made available via RealClearWire.

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