MONUMENT MAKER : Daniel Chester French and
the Lincoln Memorial is
a nonfiction picture book about connections. As the first spread says,
“history shapes our lives. And what we do with our lives can shape history.”
Daniel was a boy during the Civil War, but
his brother Will joined the war effort.
When Abraham Lincoln was shot Dan and his classmates wore black bands
on their sleeves in his honor.
Although Dan came from a family of
lawyers, sculpting was his contribution to history.
The author, Linda Booth Sweeney's connection to Dan was showing
an artist who persevered to become a master of his craft and honoring his
celebration of Abraham Lincoln. Her planning this book using illustrations was
central to her process.
“Where possible, I imagined each spread as a scene.
Page turns were the signal to the reader one scene was ending and another
was about to begin,” she said.
Teachers might consider using the illustrations for writing assignments. Put yourself in Dan’s shoes. What would you have done if
you had been Dan?
And if you're a student whose family planned to visit the Lincoln Memorial this summer but might not, read Linda's book instead!
