A man named Thoreau

by Robert Burleigh

Presents the life and ideas of the renowned nineteenth-century American author.

Genres: Biography, Picture Books, Nonfiction, Biography Memoir

Paperback

First published October 1, 1985

About the author

Over the past 35 years, I have published poems, reviews, essays, many filmstrips and videos, and more than 40 children's picture books.

Born and raised in Chicago, I graduated from DePauw University (Greencastle, Indiana) and later received an MA in humanities from the University of Chicago. I've published books for children since the early 1990s. My books - including numerous unpublished ones! - run a broad gamut, from stories geared for pre-schoolers to survival stories and biographies aimed at seven to eleven-year-olds. My work is wide-ranging because, basically, I'm a generalist by experience - and inclination!

In addition to writing, I paint regularly under the art name Burleigh Kronquist and have shown work in one-person and group shows in Chicago, New York, and elsewhere around the country.

-from robertburleigh.com

Reviews

[Karen Floyd · Rating 4 out of 5]

Burleigh does a good job fitting the nuances of Henry David Thoreau's character and vision into a children's biography. My daughter loved this book when she was in elementary school.
I re-read this while waiting for my copy of Laura Dassow Walls' biography of Thoreau to arrive.

[Laura Verret · Rating 3 out of 5]

As I read this kid’s biography, I realized that I knew practically nothing about Henry David Thoreau’s life. I mean, I knew that he was a transcendentalist author who wrote during the early 1800s and lived in the forest for a while, but other than that I knew nothing.

A Man Named Thoreau is very short, and the font size is large. But surprisingly, a lot of his philosophies were incorporated and taught in the pages – more than I think I’ve ever seen in a biography of this reading level. Maybe it was because Thoreau crafted his life around his beliefs more purposely than many people do. Whatever the reason, A Man Named Thoreau not only communicated Thoreau’s biographical life, but also included lots of thought-provoking quotes from Thoreau’s own writings.

All in all a great intro for readers both young and old.

[Nathan Willard · Rating 5 out of 5]

My family is from Concord, and so we are pretty big fans of Walden Pond and Thoreau, Emerson, the Alcotts, etc. This book captures the spirit and essence of Thoreau's philosophy in extremely accessible and interesting ways. The book keeps moving from page to page while giving you the opportunity to savor the beauty of Thoreau's words and the descriptions of his settings. Burleigh judiciously uses quotations to illustrate his descriptions and give all readers a taste of Thoreau's wit and wordsmithing, while the pencil drawings do a good job of capturing his context. I regularly read this to my 3 year-old daughter when it is time for her to fall asleep, at her request. A great introduction to Thoreau.

[Matthew · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is definitely not like later Burleigh, but it's a very thorough biography of the life of Henry David Thoreau. The pencil drawings are beautiful, though I think I prefer color in my illustrations generally. Not a bad biography to have in your collection.

[Stephanie Allen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book briefly tells the story of Henry David Thoreau's life. It focuses on his time at Walden Pond and what he learned there. This book could be used to talk to students about Thoreau, a simple life or authors in general.

[Tracy Gier · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful crazy art in here