Smarty Finds a Kindred Spirit

We've been reading this with Smarty:

It's a little bit more meaty than Smarty is used to, but he's handling it okay. We definitely love all the pictures.

Smarty was fascinated by stories of early 1800's frontier living, but I think he was having a hard time trying to relate to this situation so far removed from his own. However, when we got to page 15, the light turned on.

We were learning about Abraham Lincoln's stepmother, Sally. Smarty suddenly perked up when I read, "As a boy, Abraham was not noted for being particularly smart. But Sally could see that he was; he simply had a different way of learning."

Smarty stopped me and said, "Hey! That's like me!"

I nodded and went on, "He wasn't fast, but he worked at what he wanted to learn with a passion."

Again, Smarty stopped me and said, "Like me!"

I read some more, "And once he knew something, he never forgot it."

Smarty, "Like me!"

"Sally said, '...he must understand everything--even to the smallest thing--minutely and exactly--he would then repeat it over to himself again and again...'"

Smarty, "Like me! Like me!"

By this time, Smarty was bouncing up and down on the couch, but the similarities kept on going. I continued to read Sally's words, "'...and when [the thing] was fixed in his mind to suit him, he became easy and he never lost that fact or his understanding of it.'"

A laughing Smarty exclaimed, "Me too! Me too!"

Smarty is now enraptured with Abraham Lincoln--at the least the boy version. I just think it's great to see him identifying with someone who grew up to do something meaningful for humankind. I have no doubts that Smarty can too.