Weekly Book Special: Boy Who Looked Like Lincoln, by Mike Reiss and David Catrow

February 15th-21st Weekly Book Special

To commemorate President’s Day, we are offering a wonderful children’s book about a boy who bore a close resemblance to our 16th President. This week’s special is:

The Boy Who Looked Like Lincoln
Written by Mike Reiss, Illustrated by David Catrow
(Hardcover, 29 pages, 2003, $11.00)

Life isn’t easy for Benjy. He looks just like Abraham Lincoln — right down to the wart and beard. He receives stovepipe hats for every birthday and has to play Lincoln in every school play — whether he’s part of the story or not. The teasing never stops.

But then he spends a summer at Camp What-cha-ma-call-it — for Kids Who Look Like Things! There, among kids who look like frogs, toasters and even the backside of a horse, Benjy learns some important lessons about himself — and the things that truly make a person special.

My favorite scene is when Benjy has to play Lincoln in every school play:

Author Mike Reiss, who writes for The Simpsons and illustrator David Catrow have created a wonderfully hysterical fable that will resonate with anyone who has ever felt a little different.

This book is a staff favorite at President Lincoln’s Cottage in Washington D.C. Venus Musgrove, a grad student in Writing for Children and Young Adults at Hamline University, recently named David Catrow her “Illustrator of the Week.”

Educator Kim Taylor writes on her blog: “This would be a great book to read aloud. The pictures are very colorful and full of lots of detail. This would be a great way to teach students a lesson about being proud of who they are and knowing what makes them special.”

Purchase this book for $11: