Oh how I wish I had read Lincoln and Kennedy: A Pair to Compare by Gene Barretta before I published my Mock Sibert list in early December. But for some reason, I didn’t discover this book until my Christmas reading binge.

Still, it’s easily my favorite social studies book of the year. Why? Let’s digress a bit.

Have you ever noticed that when it comes to trade children’s books about history and social studies, picture book biographies are pretty much the only game in town? Why is that? I don’t have an answer, but I think it’s an important question for us to think about because while picture book biographies appeal strongly to some readers, other readers aren’t so keen on them.

Picture book biographies have a narrative writing style and generally try to establish an emotional connection between the reader and the subject of the book. But some young readers prefer books that focus on data, facts, ideas, information. These concrete, analytical thinkers–budding scientists, engineers, mathematicians, computer programmers, accountants, electricians, and plumbers—enjoy reading engaging expository nonfiction with clear main ideas and supporting details. They get excited about patterns, analogies, concepts, comparisons, and calculations. As they read, their goal is to use the information they gather to learn about the world and its possibilities and their place in it.

Lincoln and Kennedy: A Pair to Compare by Gene Barretta is my favorite social studies title of 2016 because it’s perfectly constructed to appeal to analytical thinkers. It has dynamic, appealing art and an engaging expository writing style. It also features a strong, clear compare and contrast text structure, repeated references to fun, surprising patterns, and an ending that connects to readers by introducing the term “legacy” and asking readers to think about how they plan to exist in the world.

Well done, Mr. Barretta.

Perhaps jumping off the list of Lincoln-Kennedy coincidences that surfaced not long after JFK’s assassination, this entertaining picture book details what the two presidents had in common—but also notes the myriad things they didn’t. Initially, that’s a lot: one had a hardscrabble childhood and grew up to be a Republican; the other was a silver-spoon Democrat. But both fought for their countries, served in the House, lost children, and took up the causes of African Americans. Though the similarities between the men’s personal and political lives become less obvious as the book continues, especially when it tries to link the Civil War with the Cold War, Barretta nonetheless gives children a capsule look at those struggles and other historical events. The assassination of both presidents, of course, ties them together once more. The final pages offer lists of presidential trivia and quotations as well as sources. The text reads easily, but it’s the cartoonish illustrations—big, bold, and set in cleverly designed pages—that will immediately grab kids’ attention. An engaging lead-in to more substantive biographies. — Ilene Cooper

R Gr. 2-5

Separated as they are by a hundred years, and representing rival political parties, Lincoln and Kennedy don’t immediately lend themselves easily to a side-by-side picture-book analysis. Kudos to Barretta, then, who is stunningly successful at creating such a book by pausing at key moments of each man’s life to see what he’s facing and enriching the biography of both by comparison. Boy Lincoln, scrubbing down in a tin bathtub while a bear hovers near his shoulder, “had a passion for learning and borrowed books whenever he could.” On the facing page, boy Kennedy soaks in a footed tub, with a teddy bear perched on the radiator: “He showed little interest in his studies.” A picture shows Lincoln wooing Mary Todd at a dance, in true meet-cute fashion, while the scene below depicts Jacqueline Bouvier sneak- ing a sidelong glance at Kennedy as he holds forth at a dinner party. Both men, pictured in somber silhouette, experienced the loss of a child and suffered from depression or pain. Each made a stand for civil rights; each faced military defeat. And, of course, both fell to an assassin’s bullet. Cartoon illustrations are respectful but at times humorous, and the career of each man is recapped with a double-page spread that includes presidential accomplishments, trivia, and five memorable quotations. With a glossary and list of sources, this will obviously catch the eye of social-studies teachers, but the lively illustrations and inviting approach will entice independent readers as well. EB