Monday, June 23, 2008

A book by Julius Lester "John Henry"


John Henry by Julius Lester is an exciting tale that is fun to read. I was not completely aware of who John Henry was, but I knew that he was a large man who built railroads. Until I read this book, I was under the impression that he was a real person who actually lived in the late 1800’s, however the foreword to this book tells the reader that no one is certain whether John Henry was an actual person or not.

This tale which has been retold for generations tells of a baby who was born, John Henry, who grew so tall that he burst through the roof, all when he was still a child. Pretty soon after this he decided that he needed to leave his parents and get out and see the world, so his father gave him two 20 pound sledgehammers that belonged to his grandfather. John Henry took these sledgehammers and put them to good use building roads and railroads.

In this story John Henry is helping build the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad but the workers have come to a stop because they have to tunnel through a huge mountain. The workers are waiting on a new machine, the steam drill, which will dig a hole through the mountain with no man power needed. John Henry knows he can hammer through the mountain so he makes a bet with the boss that he can beat the steam drill.

He bets that he can reach the middle of the mountain before the steam drill does and they set to work, him against the machine. It does not take him long to reach the middle and he passes right though to beat the steam drill. Even though he wins the bet, he works so hard hammering through the mountain that when he gets to the other side he dies.

This is a great story about believing in yourself and working hard. Even though the tale is completely fictional, it is a great story to read and I know that children will love hearing about the exceptional strength of John Henry.

Julius Lester has written many books which include Search for the New Land, Revolutionary Notes, Day of Tears, Black Folk Tales, Long Journey Home, The Tales of Uncle Remus, Sam and the Tigers, Black Cowboy, Wild Horses and many more. His first book was published in 1965 and he has written many since that time, both children’s books and adult. Most of Julius Lester’s books are about African Americans and a lot are about the slave experience.


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