Name That Children's Book: Abe Lincoln as a boy, pencil illustrations

April 19, 2018 9:26 AM

I owned this book as a child growing up in the mid-1980's. It was about Abraham Lincoln; at least part of it was specifically about his childhood. I would guess it was written for kids between 6-9. It definitely had a turquoise cover, was paperback, and was presented in landscape orientation. Beyond that ...

It had lovely graphite pencil illustrations that fascinated me; they were done in a realistic but 'loose' style, like what one might find in an artist's sketchbook. There was one of Abe as a boy writing on a slate board with chalk, and one depicting his stepmother Sarah either doing the washing or cooking something (pretty sure the text directly described these illustrations in these two instances --- I think with the slate board illustration, there was some reference to him having to erase over and over to do sums).

I have an impression of there being quite a number of pages - enough for an older kid's book, vs one for very small children.

As for the rest of the text, I want to say there were charming, idyllic details about Abe and his life in a log cabin (being helpful, chopping wood, doing homework by candlelight) but these could be a product of little!me looking at the pretty pictures and narrating them to myself. I don't recall anything in the book's content showing Abe as an adult, but that could also be my selective memory's work.

This has been nagging at me for months. I know it isn't much, hive mind, but ... help?

posted by phonebia to Media & Arts (4 answers total)

This is not the edition of this children's biography of Lincoln by Anne Colver that I owned in the early-to-mid-80s (this is), but it's turquoise, so it might be yours. I do remember the illustrations clearly and they were much as you describe.

It did include Lincoln as an adult, but I remember childhood details, much as you do--particularly the description of something that happened to him when he was young that changed his whole life: "his mother--pretty, gentle Nancy Hanks Lincoln--died." I also remember a "happy day" when his father brought home his stepmother, Sarah Bush Lincoln, and another life-changing moment when he found a copy of Blackstone's Commentaries, an important law book, in a barrel of old clothing and sundries that he traded something for. The writing was pretty engaging--must have been, for me to remember it for so long.
posted by dlugoczaj at 10:11 AM on April 19, 2018 [1 favorite]

Looking into the different editions of the Colver Lincoln bio, I see that the illustrations I remember were by a different illustrator (William Moyers) than the one who did the turquoise edition (Irv Docktor).

This link shows the drawings I remember by Moyers, although my copy was paperback and the illustrations were NOT in color.

I can't find any samples of the Docktor illustrations other than the cover, unfortunately (although there is a lovely gallery of his illustration work online and the man was prolific!).
posted by dlugoczaj at 10:31 AM on April 19, 2018

Oooohhh, did it have a bit about him putting footprints on the ceiling as a prank??
posted by clseace at 3:08 PM on April 19, 2018

You may want to look at Dover publications (Dover.com). They do a lot of reproduction publications. Failing that, abebooks, or bookdirectory might be a source for a used copy.
posted by Enid Lareg at 6:30 PM on April 19, 2018