John Henry: An American Legend

By Ezra Jack Keats

Book Overview

Caldecott Medalist Ezra Jack Keats's vibrant retelling of the popular African American folk ballad. Have you heard the tale? John Henry was born with a hammer in his hand. He was taller and stronger than anyone around. When men started talking about laying railroad tracks across the prairies and deserts, and right through the mountains, John Henry knew he and his hammer had to be a part of it. And drive those spikes he did Then came the day when a challenge was announced: Who could dig a tunnel through a mountain faster--John Henry and his hammer? Or a steam drill?

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0394890523
• ISBN13: 9780394890524
• Release Date: May 1987
• Publisher: Dragonfly Books
• Length: 32 Pages
• Weight: 0.30 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.1" x 7.8" x 9.9"
• Age Range: 3 to 7 years
• Grade Range: Preschool to Grade 2

Customer Reviews

John Henry: An American Legend

I purchased this book for my grandson. I had used this book in my classroom and enjoyed sharing it with my grandson. He enjoyed the pictures and the story line about this person.

John Henry, Steel Driving Man

This was a good story. It added some life to the charachter that I was trying to portray to my students.

NIGHTLY

My 3 kids request I read this book every night. Its good enough that I don't MIND.

The Genius of Ezra Jack Keats!

Guess which is one of the books I'm using for Black History Month this year?

Illustrations and Words

Jessica Kruczynski English 385.04 Dr. Michelle H. Martin March 29, 2000Keats, Ezra. John Henry: An American Legend. Toronto, Canada: Random House, Inc, 1965.John Henry, written and illustrated by Ezra Jack Keats, tells the story of a fictitious American legend. Through the powerful illustrations, Keats portrays John Henry as a heroic man with much importance in society. Keats uses bold colors throughout the story, which help stimulate the reader's emotions. John Henry's importance is first revealed in the opening of the story. Unusual, marbalized paper illustrations accompany the words that tell of the night noises welcoming John Henry into the world. Even as a newborn child, he is the focus of the story, taking up an entire page in the book. When John Henry realizes his own strength, he makes the decision to leave his family and go out into the world. The illustration during this part of the story shows that a change is because of the bright colors and the image of waves rolling into the next page. When a storm strikes, John Henry's first act of bravery comes into play. Black and grey colors give a feeling that things are not quite right. The storm nearly causes a ship to sink, but John Henry is able to gain respect and admiration from others by bringing their ship to safety. John Henry, who was born with a hammer in his hand, feels called to go help build railroads. The illustration of him helping with the railroad tracks is much different thtn the other illustrations because John Henry is not the center of attention. Perhaps the reason for this is because helping build the railroad with a hammer in his hand is where John Henry belongs. Henry's next opportunity to be the hero occurrs when a lit fuse burns closely to dynamite in a cave, causing a very dangerous situation. Trying to put out the fuse, John Henry first trips and falls, but recovers by putting out the flame with his hammer. In this illustration, the hammer takes up and entire page! This shows that the hammer and John Henry are of equal importance; without his hammer, he is only an ordianry man. After proving himself to be a hero, John Henry develops a feeling of much confidence in himself. When told about an extremely powerful steam drill, John Henry states that he is more powerful and can drill more holes faster than six men combined. The illustrations of Henry's "race" with the machine are very effective in portraying motion. The hammer appears to be moving so fast that it becomes almost a blur. The pictures show how tired John Henry is becoming, and eventhough the steam drill is ahead of him at one point, he continues to work harder and faster. With much determination, John Henry picks up another hammer so that he can get twice as much done. In this illustration, John Henry and the two hammers take up two pages. Keats uses a bright orange color to offset Henry and the hammers. The bright color gives a feeling of