Abe Lincoln Crosses a Creek ─ A Tall, Thin Tale Introducing His Forgotten Frontier Friend

This ALA-ALSC Notable Children's Book and Booklist Editors' Choice is an ingenious historical fiction picture book about the 16th president of the United States, Abraham Lincoln. It’s a tale of two boys who get themselves into more trouble than bear cubs in a candy store.

The year is 1816. Abe is only seven years old, and his pal, Austin, is ten. Abe and Austin decide to journey down to Knob Creek. The water looks scary and deep, and Austin points out that they don’t know how to swim. Nevertheless, they decide to traverse it. I won’t tell you what happens, but let’s just say that our country wouldn’t be the same if Austin hadn’t been there to help his friend.

Deborah Hopkinson is the author of Sky Boys: How They Built the Empire State Building, a Boston Globe–Horn Book Honor Book and A Boy Called Dickens. She lives in West Linn, Oregon.

John Hendrix is the illustrator of A Boy Called Dickens by Deborah Hopkinson and the chapter book How to Save Your Tail by Mary Hanson. He teaches illustration at Washington University in St. Louis, where he lives with his wife, Andrea, and son, Jackson.