Abigail Adams Author:Alexandra Wallner From Publishers Weekly Joining the likes of Betsy Ross and Beatrix Potter, Alexandra Wallner's newest biography, Abigail Adams, brings another famous woman to life. She depicts Adams as loyal, curious and determined to "[speak] up against slavery and for women's rights" during the time of the American Revolution, through to her... more » days when, as First Lady, hers was the first presidential family to occupy the White House. Detailed full-page illustrations depict colonial dress and architecture.
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--This text refers to the Hardcover edition. From Booklist Ages 5-8, older for reading alone. Wallner continues her picture-book biography series, which includes titles about Betsy Ross and Louisa May Alcott. This time, she looks at the wife of one president, the mother of another, and a champion for women. What Wallner makes very clear is that Adams was a strong, bright woman. Though she spent much of her time as a hostess and mother, she also managed the family farm and the finances and worked for her country in her own right. And while the book shows the closeness between Abigail and her husband, John Adams was nowhere near as enlightened as his wife. When Abigail wrote him a letter stating her views about women's and slaves' rights, he replied, "I cannot but laugh." Both the telling and the folk art-style illustrations are a bit staid, but have some charms--for example, the quote from John above and the view of a busy colonial kitchen, where women weave, sew, spin, and cook as children both help and hinder. A solid choice for primary biography shelves. Ilene Cooper