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<i>Our Abe Lincoln: An Old Tune with New Lyrics</i> (review)

2009; Johns Hopkins University Press; Volume: 62; Issue: 5 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1353/bcc.0.0614

1558-6766

Elizabeth Bush,

Education Methods and Practices

Reviewed by: Our Abe Lincoln: An Old Tune with New Lyrics Elizabeth Bush Aylesworth, Jim , ad. Our Abe Lincoln: An Old Tune with New Lyrics; illus. by Barbara McClintock. Scholastic, 2009 [40p] ISBN 978-0-439-92548-8 $16.99 Reviewed from galleys R 4-7 yrs For those pre- and primary schoolers who can't be left out of the upcoming Lincolnpalooza, Aylesworth has the vehicle to bring them on board. In a dozen simple verses, sung to the tune of the tedious but eminently croonable "The Old Gray Mare," he sets Lincoln milestones to music: "True Abe Lincoln was praised for his honesty/Many good deeds ago"; "Wise Abe Lincoln said, 'NO MORE!' to slavery/Many brave days ago." This could all be forced and sappy were it not for McClintock's clever visual setting, which portrays a cast of schoolchildren (the age of the book's audience) performing the song in a school pageant. The stage sets and costumes are pretty ambitious, but the kids' mugging and the details of homemade props (a pig on wheels, cardboard fire) keep the theme of a children's production steadily in view. Aylesworth rightly suspects that "The Old Gray Mare" may no longer be on kids' (or teachers') top ten list, so a melody line and two of the verses appear on the endpapers. Likewise, and more importantly, he understands that youngsters really don't know much of anything about Lincoln, and he supplies an endnote with niblets of information coordinated with each stanza of his song. This approach—sing now, understand later—is a sturdy pillar of Sunday school programming from many long years ago, and there's every reason to expect it to be equally effective in introducing the littlest tykes to the sixteenth president. Copyright © 2009 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois Used by permission of Atheneum Books for Young Readers.