Horn Book Review
Picking up where 'Young Abe Lincoln: The Frontier Days' left off, Harness sketches Lincoln's political career from the Illinois State Legislature to his assassination. Cursory views of his family life are intercut with details about his rise in the new Republican Party and about the Civil War. The period-inspired watercolors tend to be stiff, but the brief text and several maps provide a useful and attractive overview. Bib. From HORN BOOK 1997, (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
To the growing number of picture-book biographies add this sequel to Young Abe Lincoln (1996) that covers the latter half of Lincoln's life. From the tall, lanky new lawyer who tucked his papers inside his stovepipe hat to the president who led a divided country through civil war, Harness profiles a personal and political Lincoln in a variety of settings and states of mind. Her informal style lends a familiarity to the narrative, interspersing quotes, excerpts, anecdotes, and speeches into the straightforward story line. Without romanticizing Lincoln's role in history, the author allows this larger-than-life president to be human by presenting the anguish and torment he suffered at home as well as in his role as president during a time of civil war. Illustrated maps rife with captions and dates outline the chronology of events and provide a jumping-off point for more serious war buffs. An enormous amount of information and a number of complex issues are pared down to an approachable, satisfying sketch of the simple country lawyer who became ""Father Abraham, the Emancipator. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
Ages 6-9. The sequel to Harness' Young Abe Lincoln , this lively picture-biography covers a lot of territory in its 48 pages. Beginning with Lincoln's arrival in Springfield, the story includes his courtship and marriage and active role as a father, the segue from law into politics, the slavery issue, and the Lincoln-Douglas debates. The book goes on to discuss Lincoln's presidency, focusing on the Civil War, the Emancipation Proclamation, the Gettysburg Address as well as his second inaugural address, and finally, Lincoln's assassination and funeral train. The text gallops through years of history, with sudden stops for surprisingly vivid little scenes in which Lincoln laughs and slaps "his bony knees," sits at the bedside of his dying son Willie, or dreams a prophetic dream of his own death. Filled with color and action, Harness' paintings and maps dominate the pages and provide a wealth of historical detail as well as a humanizing view of the Lincolns (Reviewed January 1 & 15, 1997)0792237366Carolyn Phelan