Reviews

Booklist: “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 . . . 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.”

The Bulletin: “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.”

Melissa Stewart: “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.”