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12th out of 93 books
—
4 voters
Brick by Brick
The president of a new country
needs a new home,
so many hands work
together as one.
Black hands,
white hands,
free hands,
slave hands.
In this powerful story of the building of the White House, Coretta Scott King Award winners Charles R. Smith Jr. and Floyd Cooper capture the emotion and toil that created this incredible structure, the home of our president. The White Hous...more
needs a new home,
so many hands work
together as one.
Black hands,
white hands,
free hands,
slave hands.
In this powerful story of the building of the White House, Coretta Scott King Award winners Charles R. Smith Jr. and Floyd Cooper capture the emotion and toil that created this incredible structure, the home of our president. The White Hous...more
Hardcover, 32 pages
Published
December 26th 2012
by Harper Collins
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Sometimes I feel like the older I get the more interesting history becomes. Not that history, real history, wasn't always fascinating. It's just that when I was a kid you couldn't have named a subject duller. And why not? Insofar as I knew, the history taught in my schools gave me the distinct impression that America was a country forged by white people and that folks of any other race would crop up occasionally in the textbooks to be slaves or to appear in internment camps or to suffer Jim Crow...more
The original White House in Washington, D.C. was built in the 1790s with the help of slaves rented from nearby plantations. The irony of the Founding Fathers who, in search of liberty and justice for all, utilized slaves to achieve it, is a subtle undercurrent in this poetic history of the construction of the new symbol of Free America.
Smith uses rhythmic repetition that focuses on the hard tasks of mixing mortar and spreading it; chiseling, carving, and transporting stone; and bleeding and blis...more
Smith uses rhythmic repetition that focuses on the hard tasks of mixing mortar and spreading it; chiseling, carving, and transporting stone; and bleeding and blis...more
In almost-rhyming verse, Charles R. Smith Jr. presents the slaves who built the White House. I think the rhythmic verse does a lot to evoke the feelings that Smith is probably going for. He emphasizes how much back-breaking work it was to build the White House, that the slaves didn't get paid but their masters did, and how working on the White House increased some slaves' skills so that they might one day earn money to buy their freedom.
Accompanying illustrations are washed out, almost hazy, wh...more
Accompanying illustrations are washed out, almost hazy, wh...more
I really didn't like this one. The rhyming text felt amateurish and almost reminiscent of Dr. Seuss without the humor, if that makes any sense. I believe a Booklist review called it "clunky". Yep. Terse. Repetitive, and not in a way that works. Like it wants to be shelved in the Easy Reader section. Just absolutely did not work for me.
I enjoyed the Author's Note more than the story. The rhyme scheme forced Smith to leave out interesting, educational details that only show up in the Note. Readers...more
I enjoyed the Author's Note more than the story. The rhyme scheme forced Smith to leave out interesting, educational details that only show up in the Note. Readers...more
The pictures in this book are wonderful. The story is important -- how slaves helped build the White House. I didn't like that it was told in rhyme -- because in many places the rhymes didn't quite work. It was also a little confusing. It says more than once that owners took the slave hands' pay. Then it starts saying they were earning their freedom. Based on the note at the back, I think once they learned skilled trades to help build the White House, they could earn money to buy their freedom....more
Rhythmic text tells the story of how slaves built the White House. The emphasis is on their hands as they cleared land and built a grand house in what was once a forest.
Illustrations are hazy yet clearly illustrate how hard the slaves worked. The illustration that sticks with me is that of the slave owners taking the slaves' pay. It evokes a deep feeling of disgust in me.
Overall, a great read aloud with an author's note following the story that provides more background information on this topi...more
Illustrations are hazy yet clearly illustrate how hard the slaves worked. The illustration that sticks with me is that of the slave owners taking the slaves' pay. It evokes a deep feeling of disgust in me.
Overall, a great read aloud with an author's note following the story that provides more background information on this topi...more
Learned about this one in last week's Non-fiction Monday gathering. Betsy Bird wrote about it. I have admired the author's work in the past. I adore the illustrator's work and when I spied the last copy at my local indie on Saturday, I snapped this baby right up. I can't say that I ever gave much thought to the White House and how it was built before reading The House That George Built by Suzanne Slade last October. I learned some other interesting tidbits as well, but found the overall effect a...more
With rhyming verse and moving illustrations, Smith and Cooper tell the story of how slaves were brought in to help construct the White House as a home for the president of our new country. The illustrations and rhythmic text convey the toil and struggle these men endured, but the overall tone balances these hardships with the pride workers felt and the skills they gained. "Month by month, / slave hands toil, / planting seeds of freedom / in fertile soil."
Younger children will be able to understand the story of Africans and African American contributions to the building of nation's capital with this lyrical writing of Charles R. Smith Jr. Cooper brings a warmth to his illustration which realistically portray the hand labor used at the time for building construction. This book is available for check out at the Gadsden County Public Library.
Feb 02, 2013
Dolly
rated it
3 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
parents reading with their children
Shelves:
2013,
childrens,
nonfiction,
poetry-song-music,
virginia,
washington-dc,
other-usa,
rhyming
Using repetitive and rhyming poetry and big, colorful illustrations, this book explains how slaves helped to build the White House. The narrative is good, but is designed more to evoke feelings than to inform. We enjoyed reading the author's note that explains more about how and why the slaves were used in the construction. We enjoyed reading this book together.
This book received the Coretta Scott King award. I would suggest this book for young children pre-school up to about 2nd grade. This book could be used during a talk about slavery and what it was and how slaves worked or were treated. It could be used in a classroom during Black History month.
I have not read this book yet but the multicultural looks of the book would be interesting to me and I would like to read it to my class. I know my students will come from different backgrounds and books are a great way to explain this.
I am ashamed that I never really thought about who built The White House. This beautifully illustrated book, written in poetic form, does a wonderful job of describing how The White House was built using slaves.
Maybe a 3.5...the poetry read awkwardly in spots, but the illustrations are wonderful (love Floyd Cooper) and the emotional impact of the words combined with the sepia tones pictures is powerful.
Probably a 3.5 rating. Very interesting to think of the work slaves contributed to the building of the first White House. Muted illustrations fit the poetic words.
This is a beautifully illustrated and affecting book about the slaves who were "rented" to build the original White House for George Washington.
A powerful, poignant story about the slaves used to build the White House. Floyd Cooper's illustrations are characteristically brilliant.
I like the simplicity of this book written in verse, and that there is a page at the end that explains the history behind the story.
Picture book in verse. Story of how black slaves were used to build the White House. Illustrations by Floyd Cooper.
Wonderful method of learning the American history of the White House.
The cadence of the text is excellent. A powerful story told in simple terms.
The poetry felt a little clunky, but what an important story to tell.
Loved the topic & illustrations but not the text.
copy received for review
Brilliant!
The pictures in this book are a fabulous portrait of history and the slave labor as part of what went into building the original White House for our American Nation. Through out giving name to nameless faces and hands as they participate to build more than just a building. I think this would make a good read for black history month and more.
*Thanks to HC for providing an ARC for review.*
scheduled: http://creativemadnessmama.com/blog/2...
*Thanks to HC for providing an ARC for review.*
scheduled: http://creativemadnessmama.com/blog/2...
May 16, 2013
Betsy Caldwell
marked it as to-read
May 13, 2013
Ramone Campbell
marked it as to-read
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Charles R. Smith Jr. is an award-winning author, photographer, and poet with more than thirty books to his credit. His awards include a Coretta Scott King Award for illustration for his photographs accompanying the Langston Hughes poem "My People" and a Coretta Scott King Honor for his biography of Muhammad Ali, Twelve Rounds to Glory. He is the author of Rimshots, Hoop Kings, Hoop Queens, Tall Ta...more
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