A School for Pompey Walker

by Michael J. Rosen

Book Overview

Pompey Walker dreams of going to school, but as a slave in the 1830s, this is only a dream, until slavery-hating Jeremiah Walker, son-in-law of the plantation owner, buys Pompey's freedom. Together,... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 015200114X
• ISBN13: 9780152001148
• Release Date: September 1995
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
• Length: 48 Pages
• Weight: 1.10 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 8.4" x 10.3"
• Age Range: 7 to 10 years
• Grade Range: Grades 2 to 5

Customer Reviews

an important book for kids

I think that all kids should read this book: it tells of the horrors of slavery in a way that younger readers will relate to. The narrator is wonderfully voiced, Rosen has done a great job at animating the owner of this amazing story. This book helps kids wrestle with difficult issues like human cruelty and social injustice by being allowed to experience this unique and compelling tale.

Pompey a freed slave, returns to slavery for special reasons

Pompey Walker is a very old man. At the dedication of a school in his honor Pompey tells his unusual life's story of slavery, brutality, freedom and being sold back into slavery for the sake of building a school for African American children in Ohio. Pompey and his white friend Jeremiah, sold Pompey to unwitting slave onwers thirty-nine times. Based on the true story of Gussie West, Pompey's poignant tale illustates how small injustices are sometimes necessary to overcome a greater social ill. The simplicity of the primitive art accompanying the story provides a deeper understanding of the harshness of Pompey's life. A School For Pompey Walker won the Simon Wiesenthal Children's Book Award for it's themes of equality of people, social justice and human dignity. The originality of the story and illustrations provide a vehicle for children to explore the complex ideas of breaking a law for the loftier goal of trying to help correct a greater social injustice, in this instance, slavery. The book is highly recommended for children ages 6-10 and for students in middle school studying 19th century United States history.