Lincoln: A Photobiography

Lincoln: A Photobiography
By: Russell Freedman
Copyright: 1989
Pages: 160
Reading Level: 9-12

" ...'Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.' Lincoln took this declaration personally. It meant that every poor man's son deserved the opportunities for advancement he had enjoyed.He felt that the Declaration of Independence expressed the highest political truths in history, and that blacks and whites alike were entitled to the rights it spelled out."

Lincoln A Photobiography, is an exceptional look into Lincolns life. This book gives and accurate, and fair portrayal of Lincolns life. A picture is worth a thousand words, and these with in the book make it a very detailed story. The book covers many aspects of his life. His life growing up, how he got involved in politics and law, his ideals, the war, and his time in the white house. I really enjoyed this book because it not only gave you an insight into the things he accomplished in his time. But more about who the man was, and shares quotes from newspapers of the time. I also love how tall Lincoln was, being a tall person myself."A tall spider of a boy" I always feel a certain connection with other tall folks (pg.10).
I also really admire how self taught, and dedicated Lincoln was. Having a love for learning is not something you can fake, Lincoln was dedicated to everything he did. From Law, to the War, to his politics. Lincoln also had a firm belief that slavery was not okay, and he stood by it. I really admire this, for often politicians try to do the popular thing and please everyone. Lincoln had firm beliefs. This book also talks about how Lincoln never disciplined his children, which is a different side of the president people never saw. But I think this is so key to this Photo biography. These things show he is human, and makes him relate able.

Recommended to: This is book for older children, as some images are graphic, and the reading level is higher. But so informative about our great President.
Problems: like I just mentioned some graphics show the war accurately, and war is never an easy thing to view.
My Reaction: I love photography, and seeing how much it has developed through this book was really neat. I also really enjoyed learning so much about Lincolns life. I recently watched an Oprah special where the Michelle Obama took Oprah on a tour of the white house. It was very staged but even just seeing he has giant dogs made him feel more human. Reading an entire book made me have even more respect for Lincoln and all that he did.