Poor Abe Lincoln can't find his hat, and he needs it in time to read the Gettysburg Address! Harriet Tubman is leading slaves to freedom, and Frederick Douglass is writing a book. Can any of his friends help him? This is the second in Misti Kenison's Young Historians board book series (the first, being Cheer Up, Ben Franklin!). Each book features historical figures from periods in American History, with cartoony expressions and simple, one-sentence character actions that lay the groundwork for future learning. Everything ends on a happy note, and the end of the book includes historical figure profiles and a timeline. Fun for every historian's library, no matter what your age.

'Where's Your Hat, Abe Lincoln' by Misti Kenison is another book in a historical board book series. Previously, I read one about Ben Franklin.

This time around, we visit Abe Lincoln. He has lost his hat. He goes to ask his friends, but they are all busy with various tasks. Frederick Douglass is writing a book, Clara Barton is tending to wounded soldiers, Sojourner Truth is giving a lecture, and so on. Abe needs to find his hat so he can give an important speech. Will he find it in time?

Like the first book, the other historical figures are shown out of date context, but there is a timeline at the end of the book. I guess it's for older readers, or the person reading this board book out loud. The characters aren't really helping Abe find his hat either. They are just there to put some historical people from the time period in the book. I think I liked the first book I read in the series a bit more, but they are really pretty similar to each other.

I received a review copy of this ebook from Sourcebooks Jabberwocky and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this ebook.

I'm not really sure what it is about these books that makes me like them so much, but whenever these pop up on Netgalley, I always get them and enjoy them. This one was no exception. In this one, Are Lincoln loses his hat during the Civil War and must find it before he gives his famous Gettysburg Address, which spoilers to a 150 year old battle: he does. Along the way, he comes across many awesome people like Frederick Douglass and Clara Barton, which is where I liked it the most: many of the people this time around were African American, or were women, which was a pretty good improvement over the last book (but I also know back in the 1770s, a lot of minorities were ignored in history, so that's not all the book's fault). Like always, I think maybe giving the characters more to do than name dropping would be an improvement, but I'm looking forward to the next one!

A nice introduction to the historical figures of the civil war for toddlers.

this is a GREAT history primer for toddlers! i highly recommend it.

Wonderful basic intro to characters of the Civil War era. President Lincoln cannot find his hat anywhere, and his friends aren't available to help look for it. They are all busy with their own activities - nursing wounded soldiers, giving lectures, etc. But when he finally tracks his hat down, he makes it to Pennsylvania to speak at Gettysburg. Each two-page spread features a different historical figure, including: Frederick Douglass, Harriet Tubman, Clara Barton, Sojourner Truth, Ulysses S. Grant, Thaddeus Stevens, and William Seward. On the pages with Grant we also see Robert E. Lee. There are brief biographies of all the characters as well as a timeline of major events from 1845-1881 in the back of the book.

The illustrations show iconic features of the characters - Douglass writing a book, Sojourner Truth's shawl around her shoulders, Grant's uniform and horse, and Tubman with her lantern leading slaves to freedom. Between the images and the brief text for each spread, the book is a quick and easy read - perfect to introduce the historical period, or read just for fun.

Where's Your Hat, Abe Lincoln? is an enjoyable children's book written and illustrated by Misti Kenison.

According to the back cover, "Abe Lincoln is worried. He has to give the Gettysburg Address but he cannot find his hat anywhere.... Historians of all ages will love this humorous introduction to America's history!"

Within twenty-eight pages, this board book focuses on American historical figures, including Abraham Lincoln, Frederick Douglass, Clara Barton, Harriet Tubman, Thaddeus Stevens, Sojourner Truth, Ulysses S. Grant, and William Seward. The last two pages feature mini-biographies about these individuals, as well as a basic timeline from 1845 to 1881.

Where's Your Hat, Abe Lincoln is easy to read in one storytelling session, and it's geared towards babies, toddlers, and preschoolers, yet enjoyable for all ages. Highly recommend adding this board book to your child's book collection.


Note: I received this book from NetGalley, which is a program designed for bloggers to write book reviews in exchange for books, yet the opinions expressed in this review are my own.

How does one teach American history to toddlers. Is it important? Do they need to know names and people that are part of history? In this case, it is just getting kids to know that these people exist in the same time as President Lincoln. It is important that Fredrick Douglas and Harriet Tubman and Sojourner Truth are up there with General Grant and Clara Barton. We need to know all the people that were around at the time, not just the ones that were fighting in the American Civil War, but those that were speaking out, like Fredrick Douglas, or helping slaves escape, like Harriet Tubman.

Not sure if this is going to be a game changer, or if kids will learn anything other than names and facts, but if some of these things carry over to grade school it might be worth it.

And on another level, it is kind of funny to have President Lincoln looking for his hat.

Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.

As with the first book in the series, the characters are not really looking for Abe’s hat. It’s more of a primer of who is who in history during Abe’s time. As a very beginning primer for those of the board book age, it works.

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