VINNIE AND ABRAHAM

Vinnie Ream was very small (under five-feet-tall), but she was also strong, smart and a talented sculptor. Her standing statue of President Abraham Lincoln in the capitol rotunda was completed while she was still a teenager. FitzGerald romanticizes and sentimentalizes her story, but Vinnie did indeed work at the post office during the Civil War, and sang for wounded soldiers in hospital. Vinnie spent five months sculpting Lincoln’s head in clay in preparation, and she was the youngest artist and the first woman to receive a commission from the government. She went on to sculpt many other notable Americans, including Ulysses S. Grant, Robert E. Lee and Sequoyah. Stock’s watercolor illustrations capture Vinnie’s beautiful energy, as well as life in Washington DC during and after the war. The author’s note explains that while several of the quotes are fiction, the story is based on the sculptor’s writings and other biographies of her. A resource list will allow readers to explore further in print and online. (Picture book/biography. 6-10)