Covering the Newbery (#67): Lincoln: A Photobiography
1988: Lincoln: A Photobiography by Russell Freedman
Original Cover:
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
My Redo:
Side by Side:


Verdict: I like this one. Mine doesn’t use a photo, which seems kinda crazy, but I like how it uses words (in this case, the text of the Gettysburg Address) to resemble a well-known photo of Lincoln.
Click here for the Covering the Newbery gallery.
Up Next Week: Joyful Noise: Poems for Two Voices by Paul Fleischman
(Source image “Lincoln : Gettysburg Address text” http://flic.kr/p/xVM4U)
Join 2,000+ librarians! Subscribe to my newsletter on Substack
Filed under: Covering the Newbery, Covers
About Travis Jonker
Travis Jonker is an elementary school librarian in Michigan. He writes reviews (and the occasional article or two) for School Library Journal and is a member of the 2014 Caldecott committee. You can email Travis at scopenotes@gmail.com, or follow him on Twitter: @100scopenotes.
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
SLJ Blog Network
The 40-Year-Old Icon: A Redwall Celebration with Editor Patti Lee Gauch and Illustrator Sean Rubin
Squirrel Lock Holmes | This Week’s Comics
From Policy Ask to Public Voice: Five Layers of Writing to Advance School Library Policy
Penguin TBR September 2026: THE HEART TRIALS by J. Elle and THE HOUSE OF GARDENIAS by Isabel Canas
Rex Ogle on His New Book Absent
ADVERTISEMENT




This one is a beauty!
I agree. Clever and pretty awesome.
I wasn’t sure how you could do this one better, but I think this may be your best cover yet! Well done and so visually (and texturally) appealing!
Thanks – all credit goes to the cool image I found on Flickr.