Maira Kalman's Looking at Lincoln - Portrait of a Favorite President

It’s Presidents Day! Or maybe not where you live. February 16 is an official federal holiday – George Washington’s Birthday. States are not required to adopt federal holidays, however, and in many places the presidents with February birthdays, Washington and Abraham Lincoln, are forced to share a celebratory day, the mashed up Presidents Day. One wonders what these two men, the gentleman farmer and the country lawyer, would have made of this forced sharing. One thinks of kids unlucky enough to have a birthday on Christmas. There just doesn’t seem to be enough attention to go around. Somebody’s short-changed.

As we do on most American holidays, we’ll shop sales or go to the movies, or just work as usual. But if you’d like to do something president-related I hope you’ll consider spending a few moments sharing a very special book with a child. Many books about historical figures claim to “bring history to life.” Maira Kalman’s Looking At Lincoln conjures Lincoln, with all his complexities, joys and sadnesses, in a children’s book that transcends category.

Something interesting happens when you ask a poet or artist to do a historian’s work. Kalman, an artist, writer, and designer whose work appears in The New Yorker, approaches Lincoln with an artist’s eye. She admits up front that when she started to research, she fell in love with Abraham Lincoln. Not a confession you’ll hear most professors or historians make, and I wondered if the book was going to get a little weird, but no worries. One cannot help but agree with Kalman’s taste. Lincoln was a fascinating man.

What does this book offer writers? Kalman shows us the details that, like brush stroke after brush stroke on canvas, build the most colorful and intriguing portrait. Unlike a historian, she conjectures with a child’s curiosity, which draws you into the text. You can’t help but feel that you know Lincoln better, know the real Lincoln, after spending time with this book.

We all know the Lincoln of history books: born in a log cabin, became a lawyer, wrote the Emancipation Proclamation, preserved the Union. The great orator. Honest Abe.

In this book, we see the homely details that a child would want to know – and if we’re honest, the kinds of details that we all want to know. Kalman tells us Lincoln always had an apple on the table where he worked. Was kicked in the head by a mule and was unconscious for two days. Loved the vanilla cake that his wife made. Enjoyed Mozart, especially The Magic Flute. Stuffed notes into his hat so he wouldn’t forget things. Loved his dog, Fido. Fido had crossed eyes.

So, Writers Who Kill, who was your favorite president?

What details define your character?