ABRAMS BOOKS FOR YOUNG READERS TE ACHING G U I D E

About This Book

A poet, a president . . . two lives of service embedded in the context of a brutal and bloody civil war. Robert Burleigh
and Sterling Hundley’s picture book biography for intermediate and middle grade readers is a deeply moving and
thought-provoking presentation of time period and personality. A partial biography focusing on Walt Whitman’s
life during the Civil War years and emphasizing Whitman’s love and admiration for President Abraham Lincoln,
this book blurs genre boundaries. Burleigh’s lyrical language reads sometimes like a poem and sometimes like prose.
Endnotes and a bibliography provide evidence of a meticulous research process and documented facts, while voice and
inference add fictionalized elements. Hundley’s illustrations lend powerful emotional impact and play with scale and
juxtaposition, realism and expressionism. The teaching ideas that follow are invitations for you and your students to
explore this book on its own and as part of a text set, both as a work of history and as a work of art.

Language Arts
Biographies of Poets
Include O Captain, My Captain in a text set of biographies
of poets, including both picture book and chapter book
biographies. Collaborate with your local school or public
librarian to garner a collection of titles. Ask your students
to read these biographies in small groups or individually.
Students should make notes about key moments in the
poets’ lives, their inspirations, and the relationship to the
historical and social contexts of their times. Ask students
to share their learning orally or in a written presentation.
Engage the class a whole with the question: What does it
mean to live the life of a poet? What roles do poets play in
communities?
O Captain, My Captain as Mentor Text
for Biography Writing
Throughout this biography, Robert Burleigh uses quotes
from Walt Whitman’s poems as leads for each new
section of the text. Conduct a close reading of several
sections of the book, asking students to provide a rationale
for why Burleigh chose a particular quote to represent a
particular segment of text. Consider breaking your class
up into small groups and assigning different text segments
for each group. What do the quotes lend to the meaning
making experience? If your students are writing biogra-
phies, invite them to experiment with this technique,
selecting quote to use as headings in their writing. Be
sure that students include the sources for their quotes
in a bibliography.

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 AB R AMS BOOKS FOR YOU NG RE ADE RS TEACHING GUIDE
Language Arts continued
Exploring Leaves of Grass
The quotes that introduce each section are drawn from
Walt Whitman’s poetry collection, Leaves of Grass.
This collection of poetry is unusual in that it was not a
static publication for Whitman; rather it was a living
document. Whitman published the collection several
times, adding, deleting, and rewriting poems. After
reading O Captain, My Captain, provide students with
the opportunity to read several of the poems in Leaves of
Grass. You could use the poems from which Burleigh has
drawn quotes or allow students to self-select. Gather your
students in small groups to discuss the experience of
reading the poems. Invite students to ponder how a book
of poetry could reflect a lifetime of experiences. If your
students were to document their life experiences in
poetry, what topics might be important to them? Ask
students to draft a poem that reflects important aspects
of their life and context.
The Roles of Rhetoric
On pages sixteen and seventeen, Burleigh explains
Whitman’s attraction to Lincoln, describing their
common love for country, their opposition to slavery,
and their skill with words. Invite students to consider
the power of rhetoric and the roles that eloquent and
aesthetic writing can play in motivating social change.
Curate a collection of Whitman’s poems and Lincoln’s
speeches for your students to read closely. What makes
their writing so powerful? What rhetorical techniques
do they employ? Invite your students to consider forms
of rhetoric that have influence in contemporary times.
What is their own relationship with rhetoric? How
might they use words to influence, to effect change?
The Art of Description: Burleigh’s
Writing Style
Burleigh’s writing is vivid, engaging, and moving. Invite
your students to reread O Captain, My Captain to identify
moments where the text comes alive for them, moments
when the description causes them to feel immersed in the
story (see, for example, the passage describing the streets of
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Washington on page twenty-two). Display the passages
selected by the students and examine Burleigh’s word
choices. How does he use sensory information? How are
verbs and adjectives employed? How does Burleigh use
description to create an in-the-moment feeling for readers?
History and Civics
Inference in the Study of History
The back matter of O Captain, My Captain includes pages
of endnotes documenting the source of quotes throughout
the book. Additionally, a biography lists the sources
consulted by Burleigh as he conducted his research. In his
author’s note, however, Burleigh clearly notes that some
“vignettes in the book were imagined to present a ‘you are
there feeling.’” This presents an opportunity to talk about
inference in the study of history. Burleigh states that his
“imagined vignettes . . . derive from the historical facts.”
Invite a local historian to your classroom (or for a video-
conference-based visit) to discuss the role of inference in
historical research. Consider the role of storytelling in
historical writing. When might authors need to make
inferences? How much should be inferred or imagined in
historical storytelling? If your school uses a history text-
book, invite students to try the following exercise: select
a passage from the textbook that uses an expository style
(relating the facts of an event). Ask students to rewrite the
passage as a narrative. What must they infer to tell a good
story? Is there further research that they could do to make
their narrative more historically accurate?
Presidential Characteristics
On pages eight and nine, Burleigh describes Whitman’s
worry over the state of his country’s government and his
hope for a new president who would lead America out of
crisis. He had a particular image in mind for both physical
characteristics and personality traits. Remind students
who was eligible to run for president at that time in
American history. Invite your students to consider the
qualities that might make someone an exceptional
president. Brainstorm a two-column listing, recording the
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 AB R AMS BOOKS FOR YOU NG RE ADE RS TEACHING GUIDE
History and Civics continued
quality and the rationale for why this quality is important
in the role. Use digital and print resources to learn more
about Lincoln and discuss whether and how he fits your
students’ criteria for excellence. To further elaborate their
thinking, ask students to work individually or in small
groups to create a job posting for the presidency in
contemporary times.
The Civil War: A Text Set Exploration
In his illustrator’s note in O Captain, My Captain, Sterling
Hundley states: “I aim to teach facts, but also hope to
inspire curiosity, which can only be found where the
answers are not. I trust Burleigh and I have left enough
mystery in this story to invite wandering minds to find
their own answers and to seek their own paths.”
To support student inquiry, O Captain, My Captain
contains a timeline in the back matter noting key
moments in the civil war. Invite your students to develop
a more robust understanding of this conflict in American
history by working with your local school and public
library to offer a text set of books and digital resources
that will allow your students to pursue questions that they
have about events and people. Some key resources include
the Library of Congress Civil War Resources for Teachers;
the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery’s 150th
Commemoration Site; Russell Freedman’s Abraham
Lincoln & Frederick Douglass: The Story Behind an
American Friendship; Jennifer Armstrong’s Photo by Brady:
A Picture of the Civil War; and additional picture book
biographies, such as Lessa Cline-Ransome’s Words Set
Me Free: The Story of Young Frederick Douglass, Barbara
Kerley’s Walt Whitman: Words for America, Maira
Kalman’s Looking at Lincoln, Doreen Rappaport’s Abe’s
Honest Words: The Life of Abraham Lincoln, Marissa
Moss’s Nurse, Soldier, Spy: The Story of Sarah Edmonds,
a Civil War Hero.
The Price of Conflict: America’s Wars
and PTSD
Walt Whitman was deeply impacted by his experiences
visiting the battlefields and hospitals of the Civil War.
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Burleigh includes graphic descriptions of the injuries and
deaths suffered by the soldiers, clearly illustrating the
horrors of war. The consequences of war are far reaching
and long lasting. You or your students are likely to know
someone suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
as a consequence of participating in military actions.
Guide students who are interested to learn more about
the diagnosis and treatment of PTSD. How have our
understandings about PTSD and war changed over
time? Consider, too, how the act of writing poetry helped
Whitman to work through the effects of the horrors that
he witnessed. How can self-expression through writing
and other art forms support healing and mental health?
A Life of Service
On page twenty-four, Burleigh describes Walt Whitman’s
entry into the hospitals of Washington, where men
wounded on the battlefield were brought to recover or to
die. He includes a quote from Whitman: “People used to
say to me: Walt, you are doing miracles for those fellows in
the hospitals. I wasn’t. I was . . . doing miracles for myself.”
Display this quote and invite your students to discuss its
meaning. Invite your students to create a list of people they
know who engage in service roles in society. Ask them to
consider ways (small and large) that they might engage in
public service. What is the role of service in a democratic
society? If your school does not already incorporate service
learning projects, consider stating this effort.
Memorializing the Fallen
Burleigh describes on page thirty-four how Whitman
recorded names and addresses so that he could write
letters to families of the soldiers who died in the hospitals.
These letters must have provided great comfort to the ones
who loved these young men. Invite students to reflect on
the ways that we honor the lives of those who have served
in military conflicts. Read about the history of Memorial
Day on the Library of Congress website, and if possible,
visit nearby monuments to war veterans. Arrange to speak
with local veterans who are willing to share how they
remember and memorialize those with whom they served.
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Interdisciplinary Activities
Poets, Presidents, and Our America
Three American presidents, Kennedy, Clinton, and Obama,
have invited poets to read at their inauguration. Read these
inaugural poems with your students, considering how each
poem interprets what it means to be an American and to
live in America. Read Walt Whitman’s poem “I Hear
America Singing” and compare and contrast it to the
inaugural poems written at different times in the history of
the United States of America. Ask your students to work
individually or together to compose a free verse poem that
captures their America, their daily experiences as young
citizens of our country.
Mentors
Walt Whitman greatly admired Abraham Lincoln and,
despite the fact that they had little interaction, considered
Lincoln a mentor through his words and his actions. Invite
your students to consider the idea of a mentor, adopting a
broad definition of mentorship. Ask students to consider
the people living and deceased who inspire them and who
offer life lessons. How do mentors help us to be our best
selves? Ask your students to write about the mentors they
value and to share their writing with the class. If time
allow, students could interview or research the lives of
their mentors in order to compose a brief biography.
Love
It’s impossible to read O Captain, My Captain without
understanding that what Walt Whitman felt for
Abraham Lincoln was love. Invite your students to
consider the many different kinds of love that we can feel,
friendship love, romantic love, family love, affinity love,
community love, etc. Ask students: In what ways does love
sustain us? What can love accomplish? How can love
counter negative emotions such as hate, anger, fear, and
depression?
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Reading the Illustrations
Sterling Hundley’s deeply affecting illustrations are well
matched to Robert Burleigh’s poetic text. After reading
the Illustrator’s Note in the back matter aloud, ask each
student to pick an image that stays with them—one that
engages them emotionally and intellectually. Ask
students to spend some time writing about the image,
considering: What is the emotional impact of that image?
How does Hundley’s use of color, line, shape, and scale
work together to create that impact? What ideas and
questions does the image inspire for them? Divide the
class up into small groups and provide time for students
to share the image they have selected and their responses.
Extend this activity by engaging students with art
making. Collaborate with your school art teacher (or a
community artist). Use Hundley’s images as inspiration
to play with scale, color, and composition. Provide
students with photographs drawn from significant current
events and invite students to depict the scenes using
illustration that emulates Hundley’s work.
Multitudes
Burleigh uses Whitman’s concept of multitudes to
introduce his character. Engage your students with
this idea through a discussion of identity. Hundley’s
image on page six sets Walt Whitman against a backdrop
of the people with whom he identifies and empathizes.
Invite students to consider the many roles they play in
different social realms. Ask them to consider, too, the
people, perspectives and identities that they can readily
identify with and those whose experiences and viewpoints
feel less relatable. Using Hundley’s image as inspiration,
invite students to draw self-portraits that reflect their
“multitudes.”
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 AB R AMS BOOKS FOR YOU NG RE ADE RS TEACHING GUIDE

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
Books for Children and Young Adults
Armstrong, J. (2005) Photo by Brady: A Picture of the Hopkins, L.B. (editor) (2008). America at War: Poems. Ill.
Civil War. New York: Atheneum. by S. Alcorn. New York: Margaret K. McElderry Books.

Kalman, M. (2012). Looking at Lincoln. New York: Nancy

Blanco, R. (2015). One Today: The Inaugural Poem
for President Barack Obama. Ill. by D. Pilkey.
New York: Little, Brown.
Cline-Ransome, L. (2012). Words Set Me Free: The
Story of Young Frederick Douglass. Ill. by J. Ransome.
New York: Simon & Schuster.
Paulsen Books.
Kerley, B. (2004). Walt Whitman: Words for America. Ill.
by B. Selznick. New York: Scholastic.
Moss, M. (2011). Nurse, Soldier, Spy: The Story of Sarah
Edmonds, a Civil War Hero. Ill. by J. Hendrix.
New York. Abrams.

Rappaport, D. (2008). Abe’s Honest Words: The Life of

Freedman, R. (2012). Abraham Lincoln & Frederick Abraham Lincoln. Ill. by K. Nelson. New York: Hyperion.
Douglass: The Story Behind an American Friendship.
Boston: Clarion.

DIGITAL RESOURCES
Poets.org: Inaugural Poems in History

National Portrait Gallery: One Life: Walt Whitman, a kosmos

The Walt Whitman Archive

Project Gutenberg: Leaves of Grass

National Park Service: Lincoln Home: Lincoln’s Speeches

Library of Congress’s Civil War Resources for Teachers

Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery’s 150th Commemoration Site for the Civil War

National Institute of Mental Health: Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

Edutopia: Service Learning

Library of Congress: Memorial Day

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 O CAPTAIN, MY CAPTAIN
By Robert Burleigh • Illustrated by Sterling Hundley

PRAISE

★ “Engaging and picturesque . . . a substantive

contribution to the recognition of Walt
Whitman and his place in American
literary history for young readers.”
—School Library Connection

“Bold and aspirational.”

—Kirkus Reviews

“An emotionally and historically resonant

homage to two kindred spirits.”
—Publishers Weekly 
ISBN: 978-1-4197-3358-1 Ages 10 and up

ABOUT THE AUTHOR AND ILLUSTRATOR

Robert Burleigh has written a number of bestselling children’s books that have received multiple starred reviews
and awards, including the Orbis Pictus and the Texas Bluebonnet Master List. He lives outside Chicago.

Sterling Hundley is a professor at Virginia Commonwealth University. His work has been regarded among the
mostly highly acclaimed in the illustration world. He was named Illustrator of the Year by the Victoria and Albert
Museum, London. He lives in Richmond, Virginia.

This teaching guide was written by Erika Thulin Dawes, an Associate

Professor of Language & Literacy, Lesley University in Cambridge, MA.