Open the Door to Liberty!: A Biography of Toussaint L'Ouverture

by Anne Rockwell, R. Gregory Christie (Illustrator)

Overview

The story of revolution leaderToussaint L'Ouverture of St. Domingue (now Haiti).

The island now known as Haiti was once a French colony called St. Domingue, where white plantation owners forced hundreds of thousands of African slaves to farm sugar cane. Toussaint L'Ouverture was one of those slaves . . . but not for long. The day would come when L'Ouverture would lead his island's slaves into a revolution for freedom, and his efforts would influence the course of world history.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780547562070
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	01/17/2024
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	84
Sales rank:	858,357
Lexile:	1000L (what's this?)
File size:	4 MB
Age Range:	10 - 12 Years

About the Author

ANNE ROCKWELL is the author of hundreds of books for children, including the distinguished picture book biography Only Passing Through: The Story of Sojourner Truth, an ALA Notable Children's Book. She lives in Greenwich, Connecticut. Visit her website at www.annerockwell.com. 
R. Gregory Christie is a Coretta Scott King Honor Award-winner and a Theodor Seuss Geisel Award recipient. He lives in Brooklyn, New York. Please visit his website to learn more: www.gas-art.com.

Editorial Reviews

Rockwell succeeds admirably in explaining a complicated life, and the American-primitive-style drawings are a good match.
—The New York Times

Julie Just

Gr 5-8

Toussaint, born a slave in the French colony of St. Domingue, led the first successful slave uprising in the Americas in 1793, defeating first the French and then the British and American opportunists who hoped to take advantage of the new country. The Haitian revolution is put in context with those in America and France, and its significance is made clear as Rockwell connects Napoleon's defeat in Haiti with his willingness to sell French Louisiana to the United States. Christie's bold, naive gouache illustrations invoke Haiti's beauty and savage history. The scene of Toussaint preventing a fellow revolutionary from unnecessarily killing a white man and the rendering of the bleak French prison in which the hero died are particularly striking. Altogether, this is a beautiful and captivating portrait of a leader whose story will probably be unfamiliar to most youngsters. Written for an older audience than Walter Dean Myers's Toussaint L'Ouverture: The Fight for Haiti's Freedom (S & S, 1996), it is a welcome addition to biography and history collections.-Rebecca Donnelly, Loma Colorado Public Library, Rio Rancho, NM

School Library Journal

Born a slave, Toussaint L'Ouverture overcame ill health and used his considerable intellect to shape both his life and the future of his country. Nonetheless, L'Ouverture, liberator of Saint-Domingue (now Haiti), seems an unlikely subject for a children's biography. Distant both historically and geographically, his story revolves around bloodshed and betrayal. Rockwell keeps the narrative brisk, summarizing the plight of the slaves and their previous efforts to rebel and moving quickly to the battles, led by L'Ouverture, through which they finally won their freedom. While this fast pace helps readers avoid feeling bogged down by details, it may leave them somewhat confused, as apparently important individuals and events are mentioned only in passing. The denouement, L'Ouverture's surrender and death, also feels rushed, and his motivation, as Rockwell notes, remains unclear. Christie's stirring illustrations, including the cover painting of a triumphant L'Ouverture surrounded by his people, complement the dramatic tale but do not provide additional insight. While this introduction may pique the interest of some history buffs, it seems unlikely that it will find a wide audience. (Biography. 9-12)

Kirkus Reviews