Frederick Douglass

by Mona Kerby

Overview

Born a slave in Talbot County, Maryland, Frederick Douglass never planned to be the most famous black man in the world. He just wanted to be free. “Once you learn to read,” he wrote, “you will be forever free.” By telling his story, Frederick helped change the history of the world. This narrative nonfiction biography is perfect for third through sixth graders and has been revised with historical photographs.

“Written with dramatic immediacy . . . [this biography] brings a strong sense of the great abolitionist and writer . . . As a slave, Douglass secretly learned to read and the power of literacy underlies this biography: Kerby shows how, in writing his story, Douglass affected the lives of untold numbers of Americans.” Booklist

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781734664317
Publisher:	Kerby, Ramona
Publication date:	02/15/2020
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	44
File size:	1 MB
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

About the Author

Mona Kerby writes award-winning fiction, nonfiction, and picture books for children. She is a college professor and has been a kindergarten teacher and an elementary school librarian. She has received the Texas Library Association Siddie Joe Johnson Award for outstanding achievement in children's library service, the Outstanding Teacher Award at Little Elementary School, and the Outstanding Teacher Award at McDaniel College in Maryland where she holds the L. Stanley Bowlsbey Endowed Chair in Education and Graduate and Professional Studies. Her 38 Weeks Till Summer Vacation won the Minnesota Maud Hart Lovelace Award and was nominated to the master lists of the South Dakota Prairie Pasque Award and the Wyoming Indian Paintbrush Award. She has written biographies on Frederick Douglass, Amelia Earhart, Samuel Morse, and Beverly Sills. Her books Asthma and Cockroaches were named Outstanding Trade Books for Students in K-12 in Science. Owney, the Mail-Pouch Pooch won the California Young Readers Award and the Vermont Red Clover Award; was nominated to five state reading award lists in Kansas, Missouri, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, and Tennessee; was named to the Bank Street College Best Children's Books of the Year List; and received the Parents' Choice Silver Honor Award. See www.monakerby.com for more information.

Editorial Reviews

Written with dramatic immediacy, this illustrated biography in the fine First Books series brings to a middle-grade audience a strong sense of the great abolitionist and writer. This can't replace Michael McCurdy's illustrated "Escape from Slavery: The Boyhood of Frederick Douglass" (1994), which contains selections from Douglass' first autobiography. But Kerby describes not only Douglass' youth in bondage and his exciting escape, but also how he eventually bore witness against slavery as writer and speaker. She mentions that he made mistakes and that some of his solutions to civil rights issues were controversial. The design is attractive, and the pictures are well chosen, though an occasional caption sounds like a study question. As a slave, Douglass secretly learned to read, and the power of literacy underlies this biography: Kerby shows how, in writing his story, Douglass affected the lives of untold numbers of Americans.

Hazel Rochman

“Written with dramatic immediacy . . . [this biography] brings a strong sense of the great abolitionist and writer . . . As a slave, Douglass secretly learned to read and the power of literacy underlies this biography: Kerby shows how, in writing his story, Douglass affected the lives of untold numbers of Americans.” Booklist

From the Publisher