Booker T. Washington

by Thomas Amper, Jeni Reeves (Illustrator)

Overview

More than anything, nine-year-old Booker T. Washington longed to go to school, but he had to get a job to earn money for his family. Though the Civil War had freed them from slavery, Booker's family had to work hard to survive. Booker didn't forget his dream. He taught himself the alphabet, studied at night after work, and was able to realize his dream.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780876145340
Publisher:	Lerner Publishing Group
Publication date:	08/01/1997
Series:	On My Own Biography
Pages:	48
Product dimensions:	(w) x (h) x 0.13(d)
Lexile:	560L (what's this?)
Age Range:	8 - 9 Years

About the Author

Jeni Reeves is a painter and children's book illustrator with a background in communication and fine arts. Her illustrated picture books include authors' stories about world culture, history, biography, and folklore. Travel and study fuel Jeni's work, as does an abiding interest in history and language.

Editorial Reviews

Gr 1-3-A brief, easy-to-read biography that covers the educator's life from ages 7 to 16. As a slave, Washington was deprived of schooling. After emancipation his family's poverty forced him to work in salt and coal mines. He did, however, learn the alphabet on his own from a book and then received some instruction from a teacher at night. At 12, he heard of a school for African Americans where students could work in exchange for an education. After four years of working and saving, and with the help of many former slaves who donated to his cause, Washington arrived at Hampton Institute, 500 miles away. A one-page afterword and time line include the main events and accomplishments of his life. This is an inspiring story told in a style simple enough for young readers to comprehend. Appealing, soft, colored-pencil drawings illustrate almost every page. Patricia and Fredrick McKissack's Booker T. Washington (Enslow, 1992) and Margo McLoone's Booker T. Washington (Bridgestone, 1997) cover his entire life for the same age level.-Kate Kohlbeck, Randall School, Waukesha, WI

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