John
Henry
By
Julius Lester
Illustrated
by Jerry Pinkney
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Lester, Julius. (1994). JOHN HENRY. Illus. by Jerry
Pinkney. New York: Dial Books.
ISBN 0-590-53936-1.
ISBN 0-590-53936-1.
PLOT
SUMMARY:
This book is a beautiful retelling of the American
folk tall tale John Henry, which is
based on an old black folk ballad. When
John Henry is born, all of nature is in awe, even the sun and the moon, “And
instead of the sun tending to his business and going to bed, it was peeping out
from behind the moon’s skirts trying to get a glimpse of the new baby.” He
immediately begins to grow, and grow, and grow until he bursts through the
roof. The next morning, he is grown and ready to work even chopping “down an
acre of trees. . .” His triumph is his strength and the tools his father gave
him. With these he is able to pulverize a boulder and turn out a perfectly
constructed road and beat a steam drill tunneling through a mountain. He hammers
so long, hard and fast that his heart bursts from the exertion. He dies with a
smile on his face, while “the sound of soft crying” is heard from the sun and
the moon. Sadness gives way to clapping and cheers in celebration of the man
who died doing what he loved.
John Henry may or may not have been a real, historical person, but the message in his story is what matters, “Dying ain’t important. Everybody does that. What matters is how well you do your living.”
John Henry may or may not have been a real, historical person, but the message in his story is what matters, “Dying ain’t important. Everybody does that. What matters is how well you do your living.”
CRITICAL
ANALYSIS:
The book is told in the distinct voice of a
storyteller who adds his own bit of humor to the telling of the story. The storyteller
is obviously telling the story to a group of contemporary children and when he
tells of John Henry rebuilding the porch, he says he “. . . added a wing onto
the house with an indoor swimming pool and one of them jacutzis.” When John
Henry tackles a boulder with his hammers, “that boulder shivered like you do on
a cold winter morning when it looks like the school bus is never going to come.”
Finally, he adds a clever twist on words with “. . . John Henry was already on
the other side, sitting in a rocking chair and drinking a soda mom.” No soda
pop here. And of course, the story has to
be true, because “My great-granddaddy’s brother’s cousin’s sister-in-law’s
uncle’s aunt was there that morning.”
The author uses some examples of colloquial dialect
or slang in the book such as “sho’nuf”, “ain’t”, and “gon”, “folks”, and “didn’t
nobody”.
In keeping with the spirit of the tall tale, the
author employs frequent use of hyperbole. Some notable examples are these: “He
laughed so loud, the sun got scared,” “. . .he was so fast, the wind was out of
breath trying to keep up with him,” and, “the dynamite made so much racket, the
Almighty looked over the parapets of Heaven and hollered, ‘It’s getting too
noisy down there’”.
The watercolor, pencil and color pencil
illustrations are done in a realistic manner with true-to-life people, settings
and colors. Some of the illustrations of the people are more distinct than
others and some of their features are hard to discern. But Pinkney shows the
crowds of people in the town or in the work camp interacting with each from
varying racial backgrounds. The clothing, hairstyles, equipment, and buildings
appear to be historically accurate. The illustrations of John Henry the
character are life-like and are not exaggerated stereotypes or unrealistic.
John Henry, so monumental a character, that even the
sun and the moon are intimately woven into every step of his story. Just as the rainbow is a rare and magical
treat, the rainbow in the story is a rare and magical symbol of love, hope, the
end of a journey, and a bridge-- between the past and the future, a bridge
between cultures, between this world and another.
AWARDS:
Caldecott Honor Book 1995
Boston Globe-Horn Book Award 1994
ALA Notable Book for Children 1995
Parents Magazine Best Book 1995
REVIEW
EXCERPTS:
Publishers
Weekly: “A great American hero comes fully to
life in this epic retelling filled with glorious, detailed watercolors. From
his momentous birth, when all the animals come to see him and the sun won't go
to bed, John Henry works wonders. As a child he helps his father by adding
"a wing onto the house with an indoor swimming pool and one of them
jacutzis"-and that's just before lunch. Other episodes trace the growth of
his generous spirit. His greatest feat is, of course, in his battle against the
steam drill, as he races the machine to cut through "a mountain as big as
hurt feelings." He dies ("he had hammered so hard and so fast and so
long that his big heart had burst"), but the onlookers understand that
"dying ain't important.... What matters is how well you do your
living." This carefully crafted updating begs to be read aloud for its
rich, rhythmic storytelling flow, and the suitably oversize illustrations
amplify the text. As only one example, the animal witnesses of his birth
reappear throughout, most notably to watch John Henry's funeral train pass by.
This may not supplant more traditional retellings, such as Terry Small's The
Legend of John Henry, but it is a triumph of collaboration from the creators of
the noted Uncle Remus retellings.”
School Library Journal: “Another
winning collaboration from the master storyteller and gifted artist of Tales of
Uncle Remus (Dial, 1987) fame. Based on several well-known versions of an
African American folk ballad, Lester's tale is true to the essence of the
steel-driving man; yet, it allows room for touches of whimsy and even includes
some contemporary references that tie the hero to our own times. Told with just
a trace of dialect, the story moves along briskly toward the climax. Its moral
message of the importance of a well-lived life is clearly stated, and the
ending is uplifting. Pinkney's marvelous watercolors, abundantly rich in
detail, convey both the superior strength and the warm sense of humanity that
make John Henry perhaps a more down-to-earth character than some other
tall-tale figures. The paintings' muted earth tones add a realistic touch to
the text, bringing this John Henry alive. When viewed from a distance, however,
figures and details sometimes blend together, making the book better suited to
independent reading that group sharing. It will appeal to an older audience
than Ezra Jack Keats's John Henry (Knopf, 1987) and is a fine addition to any
folklore collection.”
CONNECTIONS:
Jerry Pinkney’s Website: http://www.jerrypinkneystudio.com/
Julius Lester’s Website: http://members.authorsguild.net/juliuslester/
West Virginia Archives and History: http://www.wvculture.org/history/africanamericans/henryjohn04.html
John Henry Folklore: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Henry_(folklore)
Teacher’s Guide: http://www.nhptv.org/kn/itv/episodes.asp?ser_serial=14140
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