Another fun book we found at our library on Abe Lincoln! A good way to help celebrate President's Day!

Little is known about Lincoln's playmate and the event told in this darling book. I liked the perspective the author and illustrator take to retell the tall, thin tale...!

Addition by Suchi, Feb 2024: Lincoln's friend, Austin Gollaher, told the tale of the 1816 event as follows.

I once saved Lincoln's life. We had been going to school together one year; but the next year we had no school, because there were so few scholars to attend, there being only about 20 in the school the year before.

Consequently Abe and I had not much to do; but as we did not go to school and our mothers were strict with us, we did not get to see each other very often. One Sunday morning my mother waked me up early, saying she was going to see Mrs. Lincoln, and that I could go along. Glad of the chance, I was soon dressed and ready to go. After my mother and I got there Abe and I played all through the day.

While we were wandering up and down the little stream called Knob Creek Abe said: 'Right up there' - pointing to the east - 'we saw a covey of partridges yesterday. Let's go over and get some of them.' The stream was swollen and was too wide for us to jump across. Finally, we saw a narrow foot-log, and we concluded to try it. It was narrow, but Abe said, 'Let's coon it.'

I went first and reached the other side all right. Abe went about half-way across, when he got scared and began trembling. I hollered to him, 'Don't look down nor up nor sideways, but look right at me and hold on tight!' But he fell off into the creek, and, as the water was about seven or eight feet deep, and I could not swim, and neither could Abe, I knew it would do no good for me to go in after him.

So I got a stick - a long water sprout - and held it out to him. He came up, grabbed with both hands, and I put the stick into his hands. He clung to it, and I pulled him out on the bank, almost dead. I got him by the arms and shook him well, and then rolled him on the ground, when the water poured out of his mouth.

He was all right very soon. We promised each other that we would never tell anybody about it, and never did for years. I never told any one of it until after Lincoln was killed.

Mr. Trimming has created several very engaging stories about some of Jesus' most beloved miracles told from the point of view of children. These stories fall into the category of historical fiction. In other words, they are based on real events, but include some fictitious characters and dialogue. This technique allows us to see the story from a different point of view (in these stories, it is from a child's point of view) and more fully understand the story because of historical details such as customs and etiquette of the day. The author develops these stories in such a way that children more fully understand the significance and joy of these miracles. For example, the first story is of the miracle of the Wedding at Cana, when Jesus turned the water into wine. This is told from the viewpoint of Abigail, the young sister of the bride. The story relates how important certain customs related to the wedding ceremony are and how nervous everyone is about the wine being in short supply. We see that running out of wine during the celebration would be a devastating blow to the family and the bridal couple and how even young Abigail fearfully awaits what will happen. After understanding this background, how much more joyous, particularly to the young reader, is it when they see how Jesus (with some encouragement from his mother - "the Widow Mary") comes to their aid? I believe these kind of stories are an excellent way of portraying to children how great Jesus' love is for us.

My children were familiar enough with these stories from the Bible that they delighted in figuring out which story was being told (the background development gives them a little chance for guessing). So enjoyable was this story, in fact, that I was coerced by my daughter into reading the entire book in one sitting. I have to admit that I found the task not at all unpleasant.

In order to give you a sampling of the book, the story of Reuben's Basket, which is about the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves and fishes, may be read online. Note: A character in one of the stories makes a joke that some may find offensive. Keeping in mind that the author is British (and some of the words involved in the joke have different connotations to British than to Americans); I don't think the joke is a real problem, but you can decide for yourself as the joke in question is included in the chapter that you can read on their website listed above.

In this house, all I have to do is leave out a book with a bright, colorful, intriguing cover like Adventures of Saint Paul and someone will ask, "Hey, Mom, can I read this book?" For the emerging reader, who has a few words under his or her belt, Adventures of Saint Paul relates the fascinating story of St. Paul on a simple level without the dumbed down language of the early reader. Meeting children where they are, the story opens with St. Paul as a young boy, who would rather ask the Rabbi questions than make tents with his father. But he doesn't remain a boy for long. The story moves quickly through his adventurous life as he travels extensively from one town to the next with his many different companions: Luke, Timothy,Barnabas, etc. The story focuses on his untiring love in bringing the message of Jesus Christ to as many people as possible under the most trying of circumstances. The story paints an accurate picture of how some Christians were wary of him and others, who were not Christian, were not sure about this man, Jesus, even to the point of driving Paul out of their town. Keeping in mind the young reader, the story omits the gruesome details of his persecuting Christians, his sufferings, and his death. Adventures of Saint Paul offers a lighthearted look at Saint Paul for the younger child. With a pleasant balance of text and dialogue, it would also make an ideal read aloud as the engaging story moves quickly along with colorful, lively pictures. There is a pronunciation guide and a prayer to St. Paul at the back of the book. Touching on the highlights of his life, this would make a first-rate introduction to the life of St. Paul for young children, especially during this year dedicated by the Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, to St. Paul.

This interesting, informative and often light-hearted perpetual calendar offers an event from Catholic history that took place on each date of the year. A brief paragraph explains the event (highlighting many great Catholics people and events from American History) with a "For More Information" bar offering the source of the information (and further reading). Without whitewashing all Catholics as noble (did you know that Dred Scott and the Supreme Court justice giving the majority opinion were both Catholics?), this calendar gives a glimpse of Americans in every walk of life - Hollywood, Sports, Politics - and introduces us to exemplary figures like the nuns who nursed soldiers from the North and South during the Civil War.

This would make a fun family project to share at meal-time and might lead to further "explorations" about particularly interesting entries. It would also make a great gift for a college student, history buff or homeschool parent.