Judith Caseley says, "When I was a little girl, I fell in love with Abraham Lincoln. I was drawn to the kindness and melancholy I saw in his face. My sister Jean and I prayed to a framed portrait of him that hung on our bedroom wall. To this day, when I see Lincoln's likeness on the wall of a school auditorium, my heart lifts with gladness or my eyes fill with tears. I remember the fierce secrets we told him, the joys and sorrows that were for his ears only. It was a private act of communion, and we called him A. L."

Judith Caseley is the author-artist of such favorite picture books as�On the Town: A Community Adventure; Bully; Mama, Coming and Going;�and�Dear Annie.�She lives on Long Island, New York, with her two children.