Independent Reading Level: Grades (1-3)

A fun and educational biography, Abe Lincoln's Hat uses a unique framework to point out many human sides of Lincoln's life that I didn't know previously. Kids will enjoy how he wasn't organized and some of the slice-of-life stories about pranks and hardships of working a traveling circuit. The book addresses his political growth and development on the issues of slavery and managing a divided country in ways that educate without condescending to young readers. It glosses over the Civil War a little too much, even for younger readers, but has great info and picture at the end of the book that partially make up for that. It is a quality addition to a section on Lincoln or the era. Appropriate even for very young readers, good for history, biography, and just as a story.

Independent Reading Level: Grades 1-3

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I enjoyed this book; I learned many things I did not know about Abe Lincoln. Since Lincoln was an American president, I have learned many things about him in history classes. I thought I knew pretty much everything there was to know about the president, but after reading this book I noticed I didn't know everything about his personal life. One fact that I didn't know was that he was a lawyer; I knew he was a prominent figure in the new world, but I never knew he brought so many people justice before his presidency. A fact that I found funny and interesting was that he kept important papers in his hat. Without reading this book, I probably would have never found that out. A major factor in Lincoln's presidency was that he freed slaves, declared equal rights for all, and reunited the union. Without Lincoln, who knows where we would be in todays world. He was and still is such a inspiring person for the American people. ( )