The Eye That Never Sleeps: How Detective Pinkerton Saved President Lincoln

This is a true story about Allan Pinkerton, who was a detective. He grew up in the slums of Scotland. The British tried to arrest him for treason because he was fighting for workers’ rights. He escaped on a boat to America. He went into the barrel business. He caught some people making counterfeit coins, so people asked him to solve other cases. He started his own detective agency. He heard that people were going to assassinate Abraham Lincoln on the day of his inauguration. He succeeded in protecting him.

In the back of the book, there’s a timeline, an author’s note, and an illustrator’s note. The Pinkerton agency did a lot of cool things, like being the first detective agency to employ women. His house was part of the Underground Railroad.

This is a picture book. The illustrations are cool. They are made with a digital scratchboard. My favorite picture is where they show Lincoln’s hat with a bunch of holes in it because it’s serious and scary. I learned tons of information about Pinkerton. I think he was a really nice guy. This book is good for kids six and up.