John Henry

Rating:
Summary: If I had a hammer...
Review: If you haven't read a book that combines the individual talents of Lester and Pinkney (Julius Lester writes, Jerry Pinkney draws) then this might be a good place to start. The two artists have reinterpreted a variety of classic African-American tales to their own liking. From their, "The Tales of Uncle Remus: The Adventures of Brer Rabbit" to the more recent "Sam and the Tigers" (a reworked "Little Black Sambo") they are nothing if not prolific. With this book they tackle one of this country's tallest tales. The legend of John Henry. And whether you delight in their version or cling to the story you learned as a child (as I confess, I did while reading it) you have to step back and admire their enthusiasm.

In this version of "John Henry" the duo has consulted a variety of texts and versions, adding some special touches and flourishes of their own. This John Henry is a baby one day and an adult the next. He can outrace the meanest man in town and carve through solid rock with a rainbow draped across his shoulders. When the final showdown against a steam drill comes, John Henry's ready. He beats that drill only to die from a burst heart. We are assured, however, that he is buried on the White House Lawn and that at night you can hear his voice singing.

There's some getting used to here, certainly. No refrain of, "I'm gonna die with a hammer in my hand" is chanted. And John Henry doesn't work the railroads with everyone else. Rather, he accidentally stumbles across the man with the steam engine while on travels of his own. And then Lester has tried to make the story applicable to the youth of today. He did this in "The Tales of Uncle Remus" too, and I had some very similar problems. In this particular book, for example, it mentions early on that, "That day John Henry helped his papa rebuild the porch he had busted through, added a wing onto the house with an indoor swimming pool and one of the jacutzis". Personally, I don't see why this helps the text at all. I dunno. Maybe kids like hearing about Jacuzzis in their picture books. But for me, at any rate, it distracts. Pinkney's illustrations, on the other hand, are above criticism. Here we have a Ferret-Faced Freddy that has a mean weasel-like face. We see John Henry grow older and older as we watch, as well as taller and taller. I liked the clothes, the setting, and the landscapes. I especially liked the fact that John's gap-toothed grin is with him from infancy through adulthood.

The world is sorely in need of more African-American fables as remarkable as this one. And it goes without saying that everyone EVERYONE should know the ballad of John Henry by heart. I'm not willing to drop the towel and declare this particular version the epitome of all John Henrys, but it is still a noble work. Feel free to criticize it, but don't discount it. Never discount it.

Rating:
Summary: If I had a hammer...
Review: If you haven't read a book that combines the individual talents of Lester and Pinkney (Julius Lester writes, Jerry Pinkney draws) then this might be a good place to start. The two artists have reinterpreted a variety of classic African-American tales to their own liking. From their, "The Tales of Uncle Remus: The Adventures of Brer Rabbit" to the more recent "Sam and the Tigers" (a reworked "Little Black Sambo") they are nothing if not prolific. With this book they tackle one of this country's tallest tales. The legend of John Henry. And whether you delight in their version or cling to the story you learned as a child (as I confess, I did while reading it) you have to step back and admire their enthusiasm.

In this version of "John Henry" the duo has consulted a variety of texts and versions, adding some special touches and flourishes of their own. This John Henry is a baby one day and an adult the next. He can outrace the meanest man in town and carve through solid rock with a rainbow draped across his shoulders. When the final showdown against a steam drill comes, John Henry's ready. He beats that drill only to die from a burst heart. We are assured, however, that he is buried on the White House Lawn and that at night you can hear his voice singing.

There's some getting used to here, certainly. No refrain of, "I'm gonna die with a hammer in my hand" is chanted. And John Henry doesn't work the railroads with everyone else. Rather, he accidentally stumbles across the man with the steam engine while on travels of his own. And then Lester has tried to make the story applicable to the youth of today. He did this in "The Tales of Uncle Remus" too, and I had some very similar problems. In this particular book, for example, it mentions early on that, "That day John Henry helped his papa rebuild the porch he had busted through, added a wing onto the house with an indoor swimming pool and one of the jacutzis". Personally, I don't see why this helps the text at all. I dunno. Maybe kids like hearing about Jacuzzis in their picture books. But for me, at any rate, it distracts. Pinkney's illustrations, on the other hand, are above criticism. Here we have a Ferret-Faced Freddy that has a mean weasel-like face. We see John Henry grow older and older as we watch, as well as taller and taller. I liked the clothes, the setting, and the landscapes. I especially liked the fact that John's gap-toothed grin is with him from infancy through adulthood.

The world is sorely in need of more African-American fables as remarkable as this one. And it goes without saying that everyone EVERYONE should know the ballad of John Henry by heart. I'm not willing to drop the towel and declare this particular version the epitome of all John Henrys, but it is still a noble work. Feel free to criticize it, but don't discount it. Never discount it.

Rating:
Summary: Magical
Review: Julius Lester's version of the legend of John Henry is well-told. I laughed out loud when Lester described Ferret-Faced Freddy, a man "so mean, he cried if he had a nice thought." Lester also uses marvelous metaphors (next to a large mountain, John Henry doesn't look "much bigger than a wish that wasn't going to come true"). Lester's version is very different from other versions I'm familiar with (such as Ezra Jack Keat's), but I love it.

Pinkney, who has teamed up with Lester on other books (my favorite is "Sam and the Tigers"), provides beautiful illustrations to accompany the text.

Rating:
Summary: So-so
Review: My 5 year old was only half interested in this book. I think the story was a bit long, and the wording did not flow well. The drawings were nice, but I think they appealed to me more than my son.