John Henry

Lester, Julius.  1994.  John Henry.  ill Jerry Pinkney.  New York: Penguin Books.  ISBN 083716060.

Summary
Julius Lester retells the tale of John Henry in this colorful book.  When John Henry was born, all the animals, the sun and the moon were very fascinated by this baby.  When mom and dad came to show them, they all oohed and ahhed.  He grew so fast that the sun stayed up late.  After the next day, John Henry took off into the world with sledge hammers from his father to make his way.  He helps work on a tunnel through the mountain.  His hammers ring out along with his voice and create a rainbow that wraps itself around his shoulders.

Analysis
This is a good book to demonstrate to children of all cultures that the spirit with which you live life is important.  "Dying ain't important...What matter is how well you do your living."  The writing is rhythmic and would make a good read-aloud.  The illustrations are water-colored, detailed, and go well with the story.

The illustrations demonstrate many cultural markers.  First, the skin tones of the characters in the story do accurately portray African American skin tones.  The hair color and texture, especially in the picture where the parents are showing the baby to the animals, are evident cultural markers.

The writing demonstrates cultural markers as well.  Using words such as "ain't" and "gon" [going] in the song John Henry sings while he's hammering away at the boulder or mountain.

One things that bothered me a little about the book was that the owner/operator of the steam machine was white and the workers were all black.  Is this just to symbolize the time in which this tale was supposed to take place?  I hope so!

Review Excerpts
* A Caldecott Honor Book
* Winner of the Society of Illustrators' Gold Medal
* An ALA Notable Book
* An NCSS-CBC Notable Children's Trade Book in the Field of Social Studies
* Winner of the Boston Globe/Horn Book Award
* The Horn Book Fanfare List
* A Parents Magazine Best Children's Book of the Year
* A BCCB Blue Ribbon Book
* Winner of the Aesop Prize

Another winning collaboration from the master storyteller and gifted artist of Tales of Uncle Remus (Dial, 1987) fame. -School Library Journal

"A tall tale and heroic myth, a celebration of the human spirit....The story is told with rhythm and wit, humor and exaggeration, and with a heart-catching immediacy that connects the human and the natural world." --Booklist, starred review


Connections
More tall tales to check out from the library.
Kellogg, Steven.  Pecos Bill.  ISBN 9780688099244 .
Kellogg, Steven.  Paul Bunyan.  ISBN 9780688058005.
Isaacs, Anne.  Swamp Angel.  ISBN 9780140559088.
Lindberg, Reeve.  Johnny Appleseed.  ISBN 9780316526340.

For adults, here's Julius Lester's blog.  Here, in addition to his thought, you can find links to photos, his webpage, etc.
http://acommonplacejbl.blogspot.com/