Author and Christopher Newport University professor Jonathan White, winner of the 2023 Lincoln Prize, has released a new children’s book, “My Day with Abe Lincoln.”

A historical fantasy-fiction chapter book, “My Day with Abe Lincoln tells the story of a third-grade girl named Lucy who travels back in time to the 1820s and spends a day with the young Abe Lincoln in the backwoods of Indiana, said a press release. Readers will learn such little-known facts about Lincoln as that he was a terrible speller, that children teased him on his first day of school because he wore a sunbonnet, and that he almost died several times when he was a child.

One reviewer called the book “a refreshing combination of pure kids’ excitement and some pretty strict historical accuracy.” The press release stated that much of the dialogue in the book consists of words that were spoken by Lincoln or his family.

White is professor of American Studies at CNU. He is the author of 17 books, including “A House Built By Slaves: African American Visitors to the Lincoln White House,” which was co-winner of the 2023 Gilder Lehrman Lincoln Prize. The author serves as vice chair of the Lincoln Forum, and in 2019 he won the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia’s Outstanding Faculty Award.

The book is illustrated by Madeline Renaux, a recent graduate of CNU, where she earned her degree in studio art.

A free guide for parents and teachers is available at www.jonathanwhite.org. It gives the history behind the story and provides questions for classroom discussion.

White will give talks on his book at noon on Sunday, Feb. 25, at Turn the Page Bookshop in Williamsburg and on Saturday, March 9, at a children’s event during the Battle of Hampton Roads Commemoration at The Mariners’ Museum in Newport News. His book tour will include stops in Washington, D.C., Pennsylvania, Florida, and Illinois, as well.

For more information, visit www.jonathanwhite.org.