Hamilton

July 1, 2020
Diverted from their Mount Rushmore series, veteran collaborators still produce another noble profile carved in granite. Alexander Hamilton may not be literally cut into a mountain the way the subjects of their Abraham (2017), George (2012), and Theodore (2006) are, but Keating and Wimmer present him in the same lapidary way, with oratorical, self-aggrandizing narration ("I was a father of my country"; "I was a whirlwind"; "I was all action") paired to oil paintings done in a photorealistic style in which figures (white throughout) dressed in elaborate period costume look as if they're posing for formal portraits or making up a historical diorama. The narrator retraces his career in politics and the military, trumpets his belief in strong central government and a national army, points to the newspaper, the banks, and other institutions he founded, and sums himself up as a sterling example of an immigrant who led "a life of enormous consequence." But actual biographical detail is so scanty that, for instance, he confines all references to wife and children to one sentence, leaving his illegitimate birth, his father, and (until the closing author's note) even his death unmentioned. For a more rounded, nuanced portrait of the great man steer younger readers to David A. Adler's Picture Book of Alexander Hamilton, illustrated by Matt Collins (2019). (This book was reviewed digitally with 11-by-17-inch double-page spreads viewed at 77% of actual size.) A buffed-up exercise in patriotic idolatry. (bibliography) (Picture book biography. 7-10)

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September 1, 2020

PreS-Gr 4-This picture book biography, mythologizing the life of Alexander Hamilton, provides a simplistic treatise on a complicated American. The first-person narrative features quotes from Hamilton sprinkled throughout. Each double-page spread chronicles a different chapter in Hamilton's life. Noticeably absent, except in the author's note, is the infamous duel with Aaron Burr that ended Hamilton's life. The book is illustrated with oil portraits, most featuring Hamilton bathed in light like a heroic subject in an Albert Bierstadt painting. One scene of the Revolutionary War depicts smiling, giddy soldiers rushing into battle with their bayonets. A brief bibliography and an author's note about Hamilton's death and legacy are included. VERDICT Skip this one; other treatments of Hamilton's life are more useful for report writing and sharing as a picture book. Try Teri Kanefield's The Making of America: Alexander Hamilton for a more report-worthy title, or David Adler and Matt Collins's A Picture Book of Alexander Hamilton for a similar illustrated approach with more punch.-Jennifer Knight, North Olympic Lib. Syst., Port Angeles, WA

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