The Gettysburg Address

The Gettysburg Address

Lincoln, A., & McCurdy, M. (1995). The Gettysburg Address. Boston, Ma: Houghton Mifflin Company.

Age Level: 10 and up

Genre:  This is a picture book.

Summary: The infamous Gettysburg Address Abraham Lincoln gave during the conclusion of the battle at Gettysburg is illustrated smartly giving the reader a refreshing look at the events that took place during the Civil War. 

Reflection:

What a great way to introduce this infamous text to young students without creating confusion. The language and meaning of the text is difficult for a child to decode and understand. The illustrations in this book do exactly what they are supposed to do in a picture book: they support the text. Without the illustrations the book would not exist. They not only support the text, but help the reader decipher the meaning of the text. Michael McCurdy does an excellent job telling the story through pictures.

            The artistic media used was pen and ink and was drawn using only black ink.

The double spread book layout helps to give the illusion of the openness of the battlefields. 

            The Forward written by Gary Wills provides the reader with a general overview as to why Lincoln wrote and gave this speech. The afterword was written by the illustrator Michael McCurdy. He explains why he decided to illustrate this book and his passion for the Civil War. You can see his passion in the facial expression used in his artwork. 

           What a great way to introduce this address to young students!