Happy 250th Birthday, USA!

Shall we try for a few more, do you think?

What do Abe Lincoln and Hobbits have in common? How do biographers decide what information to include in biographies? Just as importantly, how do they decide what to exclude? And what has our walk down Caldecott Lane started to tell us about the values of the Caldecott Award?

All of these questions and more–somehow in less than fifteen minutes!–as we look at Edgar and Ingri D’Aulaires’ 1939 text Abraham Lincoln, which won the third-ever Caldecott Award in 1940. More like a middle-grade biography than a true picture book, this text was redone by the D’Aulaires’ in 1957 to include color illustrations. Should it have won the Caldecott? Should you consider it for your little? Only one way to find out!

Show Notes

We’ve reviewed a few Caldecott winners already. You can access those here. Today’s text is available entirely on the Internet Archive (must be logged in to view)! Heck, they’ve even got Henry James’ “The Real Right Thing” for you, too. The New York Times Style Magazine article I reference in the episode is here.