Title: Poet: The Remarkable Story of George Moses Horton
Author: Don Tate
Illustrator: Don Tate
Publisher: Peachtree Publishers: (expected publication date: Sept 1, 2015)
Topic: Biography, African-Americans in History, Slavery,
Age: 8-10 (the publisher suggests 6-10, read my comments below)
Opening: George loved words. He wanted to learn how to read, but George was enslaved.
Summary: In the nineteenth century, North Carolina slave George Moses Horton taught himself to read and earned money to purchase his time—though not his freedom. Horton became the first African American to be published in the South, protesting slavery in the form of verse.
Resources:
The publisher provides a comprehensive teacher's guide for the English Arts Standards
Why I Like the Book:
I love learning about unfamiliar people in African-American history.
George Moses Horton was a slave poet, who taught himself to read, earned his own money, and sold and published his work, all while he was still a slave.
The story is about his journey. It does not dwell too much on the pain and hardships of his life, even though we know they existed, but it shows George Horton's love for words, desire to read and the will to not give up on his life long dream, to be a free black poet.
I love the illustrations. Don Tate is one of my favorite illustrators.
What I did not like: The text was very heavy and while I loved the illustrations, they did not mesh well. The illustrations created a mood that young children k-1 would be attracted to. However, the text was definitely geared toward older children 2-3 grd and up
No comments:
Post a Comment