The Soldier's Friend

A Bank Street Best Book 2025
A Kirkus Best Picture Book of the Year
2025 Kansas NEA Reading Circle List

★ “In Golio’s thoughtful and tender presentation, Whitman is the consummate friend: ‘He met their eyes with his, touched or held their hands, and read to them even if they seemed not to hear.’ Lewis’ richly textured watercolor paintings of soldiers lying wounded on the battlefield and in the hospital, of city scenes and moonlit nights, together with images of the gray-bearded Whitman both in action and in contemplation, convey the heart of this beautiful story. In a time of strife in contemporary America, this emotive story centers empathy and kindness.” —Kirkus Reviews, starred review

★ “This moving picture book biography from Golio and Lewis explores the work that poet Walt Whitman (1819–1892) took on during the U.S. Civil War…Graceful, light-filled watercolor spreads depict hazily chaotic battles, city scenes, and Whitman’s face and faraway eyes as he wrestles with the pain he encounters.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review

“In ‘Song of Myself,’ Whitman defines the essence of his poetry: ‘I am the poet of the Body and I am the poet of the Soul.’ This picture-book biography covering Whitman’s experiences during the Civil War introduces readers to that “Soul” by showcasing his deeply felt compassion… Appropriately placed excerpts from his poetry, and a letter to his mother, underscore the deep connections between his words and his deeds…Lewis’s watercolor portraits of Whitman, staring at readers with his steady blue eyes, are nearly as realistic as the Mathew Brady photograph appended in the back matter. Hospital scenes are less detailed, while the battleground illustrations blunt the horrors of war, as Lewis displays a more impressionistic style. An author’s note providing more details about Whitman and a bibliography conclude this fine book.” —The Horn Book



“In describing how Whitman devotedly gave aid and comfort to thousands of wounded Civil War soldiers as a volunteer nurse, Golio pays tribute to a great soul who matched deep wells of compassion with equally profound love for both his country and its people. Brief pull quotes from his poems and letters give the poet a personal voice, and his gray-bearded figure—at once approachable and charismatic—lights up Lewis’ hospital scenes.” —Booklist

Gary Golio is a visual artist, musician, and psychotherapist. He is the author of the New York Times-bestselling picture book Jimi: Sounds Like a Rainbow, which received the 2011 Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award. His other books, most of which profile important artists, include When Bob Met Woody: The Story of the Young Bob Dylan; Strange Fruit: Billie Holiday and the Power of a Protest Song; Sonny Rollins Plays the Bridge; and Everywhere Beauty Is Harlem.

E. B. Lewis is the recipient of a Caldecott Honor and an Orbis Pictus Award, along with many others. He is the illustrator of more than seventy books for children. His Calkins Creek titles include Invincible, Seeking Freedom, and Lizzie Demands a Seat, which won Bank Street College of Education’s Flora Stieglitz Straus Award for excellence in nonfiction, along with many other honors. He is also the illustrator of Everywhere Beauty Is Harlem, another collaboration with author Gary Golio.

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