Available:*
Library | Call Number | Status |
|---|---|---|
Searching... Stillwater Public Library | E 973.70922 GIO | Searching... Unknown |
Bound With These Titles
On Order
Summary
Summary
Our 16th president is known for many things: He delivered the Emancipation Proclamation and the Gettysburg Address.He was tall and skinny and notoriously stern-looking. And he also had some very strong ideas about abolishing slavery, ideas which brought him into close contact with another very visible public figure: Frederick Douglass. Douglass was born a slave but escaped in 1838 and became one of the central figures in the American abolitionist movement.
This book offers a glimpse into the unusual friendship between two great American leaders. At a time when racial tensions were high and racial equality was not yet established, Lincoln and Douglass formed a strong bond over shared ideals and worked alongside each other for a common goal.
The acclaimed team behind Rosa , winner of the Coretta Scott King Award and a Caldecott Honor book, join forces once more to portray this historic friendship at a unique moment in time.
Author Notes
Nikki Giovanni is one of the most prominent black poets of her generation. Born on June 7, 1943, in Knoxville, Tenn., she graduated from Fisk University and later studied at Columbia University. Giovanni creates strongly written poems to convey messages of love, frustration, alienation, and the black experience. She gained national fame with the publication of Black Feeling, Black Talk, Black Judgement in 1970. Full of the spirit of the black community during this era, her works captured the anger and frustration of many of its members.
Giovanni has been the recipient of grants from both the National Endowment for the Arts and the Ford Foundation. She has taught English at Rutgers University, Ohio State University, and Queens College and has given frequent poetry readings. She is also known for several sound recordings of her poetry, including Truth Is On Its Way. She has also been a Professor of English at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (2)
School Library Journal Review
Gr 2-6-Based on the book by Nikki Giovanni (Holt, 2008), this production explores the little-known friendship between Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass. Giovanni examines the similarities and differences in events in both their lives that led them to become important historical figures and great American leaders, and shows the commonalities that might have led to their friendship. Slavery, the abolition movement, Harper's Ferry, other famous abolitionists, and a foreshadowing of Lincoln's untimely death are presented. As Danny Glover reads the evocative text, Bryan Collier's exquisite multimedia illustrations are iconographically scanned with minor animation and some archival photographs added. Collier's often haunting work merits close examination, adding an additional poignant layer to the text. Original music also helps create a production that touches both heart and mind. There is also a somewhat rambling interview with Giovanni that provides interesting tidbits into the research for and motivation for writing the book. Optional read-along subtitles are available. This nicely done production has a variety of classroom uses and curriculum applications.-Teresa Bateman, Brigadoon Elementary School, Federal Way, WA (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Booklist Review
The collaborators of the well-received Rosa (2005) come together again, but disappointingly this time. The setting here is an 1865 inaugural reception at the White House, where Frederick Douglass is an invited guest. Douglass is sent to a rear door but refuses that entrance. Did any of this actually happen? Who knows? There are no source notes, only a time line. Moreover, Mary Todd Lincoln is inaccurately portrayed (one of the worst lapses of the book) as a Southern sympathizer, saying no Negro should be at the White House, yet history tells us she was against slavery and even sent Lincoln's walking stick to Douglass after the president was assassinated. The narrative itself is choppy, with the incident at Harper's Ferry not very well explained stuck in the middle of the book. Collier's stylized collage art is occasionally a saving grace, especially in the scenes of both men's boyhoods, and a fold-out spread that juxtaposes the horror of war against a glittering White House ball is quite spectacular. The relationship between Douglass and Lincoln could make for a fascinating book, but this one is only a very secondary purchase until something better (and better documented) comes along.--Cooper, Ilene Copyright 2008 Booklist
