Lincoln Tells a Joke: How Laughter Saved the President (and the Country)

BIBLIOGRAPHY Krull, Kathleen and Paul Brewer. 2010. LINCOLN TELLS A JOKE: HOW LAUGHTER SAVED THE PRESIDENT (AND THE COUNTRY). Ill. by Stacy Innerst. New York, NY: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. ISBN 978-0-15-206639-0

AWARD(S) and STARS

• Publishers Weekly Book Review Stars, 2010
• School Library Journal Book Review Stars, 2010

PLOT SUMMARY
Did you know Abraham Lincoln was a poet? Or that he had a wart on his cheek? How about that he was six feet four inches tall? Well, you may be familiar with these facts, but did you realize our sixteenth president had a sense of humor? Lincoln Tells a Joke: How Laughter Saved the President (and the Country) shares Lincoln’s life from his birth in 1809 to his death at age fifty-six imbedding funny sayings from Lincoln himself, like when he told a neighbor, “It’s a great day for a race . . . . The human race!” Because of his extraordinary height and unusual looks, Lincoln could be heard poking fun at himself – “Common-looking people are the best in the world; that is the reason the Lord makes so many of them.” Humor helped him through sticky situations, yet not all “folks” appreciated its worth. Reading through the life of Lincoln in this biography will give you a sense of the historical events occurring during this time while tickling your funny bone!

CRITICAL ANALYSIS

The couple, Kathleen Krull and Paul Brewer, approaches biography writing with a twist using interesting little known facts and humor. Although a brief list, Krull and Brewer use sources from 1901 to the present, as well as, “remarks passed on by eyewitnesses: some second-hand, third-hand, or further removed,” accurately and sequentially describing the events in Lincoln’s life including the funny excerpts readers will hope for after reading the title. Using a picture book style, students will be engaged with the text from beginning to end making this a good book for introducing biographies and Lincoln’s life. Krull and Brewer use different fonts to emphasize changes in time, show his mighty high-pitched “HEE HEE!”and to indicate actual words from Lincoln.

Stacy Innerst uses colorfully textured comical caricatures to bring the story of Lincoln to life from his lanky seventeen-year-old body too tall for the book’s page to his teetering pile of office papers while serving as a lawyer. Innerst includes many subtle hints of Lincoln’s life within the illustrations like the Quinn’s Jests book in his hands as a child and as the statue, the exaggerated height difference between his wife Mary Todd and himself, and a poster indicating his candidacy for the Illinois State Legislature. Children of all ages will be laughing “Ha, HA, ha, hA!” throughout the book.

REVIEW EXCERPT(S)

• Children’s Literature (2010) – “This innovative picture-book biography of the sixteenth president presents Lincoln’s life and legacy through the unusual lens of laughter, focusing on Lincoln’s sense of humor as both a coping mechanism in a life haunted by hardship and a political tool to win elections and then to govern a tragically divided nation.”
• Booklist (2010) – “Innerst’s acrylic artwork feels homey and humorous, very much in the style of his previous work with Krull, M is for Music (2003), and while not every word or picture is necessarily a hoot and a holler, they do present a positive portrait that humanizes the lionized man for whom it was “a love of laughter that kept him going.”
• School Library Journal (2010) – “Children will be drawn in by the straightforward prose, and librarians will enjoy sharing the book aloud.”

CONNECTIONS

• The authors include a link at the back of the book (www.lincolnbicentennial.gov/lincolns-life/words-and-speeches) to Lincoln’s “famous serious words.” Although not a working link, students can go to http://abrahamlincoln200.org/ to find out more information about Lincoln and his life.
• Using excerpts from this book, students can write a monologue of facts as told by Lincoln, then dress up as Lincoln to read it to a group.
• Compare this book with other picture books about Abraham Lincoln. Create a chart listing facts in common and different in each of the books. Here are some books to consider:

o   A PICTURE BOOK OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN  by David Adler, ISBN 978-082340816

o   ABE LINCOLN: THE BOY WHO LOVED BOOKS by Kay Winters, ISBN 978-1416912682

o   ABE LINCOLN’S HAT by Martha Brenner, ISBN 978-0679849773

o   ABRAHAM LINCOLN by Ingri and Edgar Parin D’Aulaire, ISBN 978-1893103269