Abe Lincoln's Dream by Lane SmithMy rating: ★★★★☆
A copy of this book was provided free from Roaring Brook Press for the purpose of review.
Many have heard the urban legend that Abraham Lincoln dreamed of a weeping crowd come to mourn their assassinated President, who turned out to be Lincoln himself. Far fewer have heard about the dream Lincoln had the night before his assassination, in which Lincoln rode a “singular, indescribable vessel” that was “moving with great rapidity” toward “a dark and indefinite shore”. But nearly everyone has heard the rumor that the sixteenth President haunts the White House's “Lincoln bedroom”.
In Abe Lincoln's Dream, a young African American girl discovers the ghost of Abraham Lincoln when she wanders away from her tour group. She befriends him and assuages the fears of the long-dead President, who is finally able to ride toward the “dark and indefinite shore” with a smile.
All in all, Abe Lincoln's Dream is a cute picture book made more touching if you're familiar with Abraham Lincoln, his struggle with depression and the overwhelming stress of being a wartime president, and his aforementioned “indescribable vessel” dream. And perhaps just as importantly in a picture book, the pictures themselves are charming and attractive, being both vaguely old-fashioned and reminiscent of American paper currency.
