A. Lincoln and Me

Skinny as a beanpole and tall for his age, an awkward young boy learns that Abraham Lincoln was called "gorilla, baboob, backwards hick." Yet along with big feet and big hands, Lincoln had a big heart and the great ability to keep a nation together. And what the boy learns as he studies Lincoln opens his mind to great possibilities for his own future.

Louise Borden was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1949. Inspired by a grandmother who loved history, Borden grew up fascinated by the stories of ordinary people and their relation to historical events. An avid reader of nonfiction and historical fiction, Borden majored in history at Denison University. She worked as a teaching assistant and later as a teacher for young children and realized a lifelong dream when she became co-owner of The Bookshelf, a bookstore in her hometown of Cincinnati. In 1971, Borden (then Walker) married Peter Borden. It was when the younger of their two daughters started elementary school that Borden began work on her first children's book, Caps, Hats, Socks, and Mittens: A Book About the Four Seasons. Her love of history has come into play in many of the books that have followed, as has her experience — through both teaching and parenthood — with children's thoughts, feelings, and concerns. Borden enjoys playing tennis, watching baseball (she's still an avid fan of the Cincinnati Reds), and reading, a pastime which keeps her mindful of the interests of her audience.