Information about Abraham Lincoln's life is written in poetry form, and alongside the text are excerpts from his writings and speeches. Gorgeous oil paintings enhance the emotional content of his life story.

Once again Kadir Nelson's illustrations are stunning. Of all the books coming out for Lincoln's 200th birthday this is my pick. ( )

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Lincoln's story has been told many times before, but not quite like this. Doreen Rappaport and Kadir Nelson have come together to share the story of this amazing man, who's passion for equality helped begin the ending to slavery. On each page is a quote from Lincoln. It's as if Lincoln himself is helping to tell the story.

From the front cover to the back cover and every page in between, it is easy for the reader to get caught up in the beauty of the artwork. Every page is rich with texture, feeling and expression. The picture of the chained slaves evoked so much emotion from me when I first saw it, that it took me several minutes before I could turn the page. I felt like I had been swallowed by the picture.

The text provides two different stories. The first story is Abraham Lincoln's biography, providing facts and details about his life as a young boy, a young statesman and finally as the President of the United States. The italic text appear to be Lincoln's written or spoken words, but I was unsure of that. I would've liked to see a citation about where the italic text came from, i.e., journals, letters, etc. Of course some of the italic text is easy to identify: "Four score and seven years ago...."

If the author and the illustrator had not collaborated, I don't think the book would've been nearly as effective. It's the combination of the two that bring this book to life. I highly recommend this book for 1st - 8th graders. While that is a big span of age ranges, I believe that the younger kids will understand the story and enjoy the pictures, and the older kids will be engaged from the moment they see the cover. ( )