American Boy: The Adventures of Mark Twain

by Don Brown

Our popular image of Mark Twain is of a gruff, gray-haired eccentric, the outspoken literary giant who created enduring novels such as The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.

But once upon a time, Mark Twain was a boy named Samuel Clemens. His birth on November 30, 1835, coincided with the appearance of Halley’s comet, streaking across the sky. A dreamer, a prankster, a lover of great tales, Sam Clemens spent his boyhood years living out adventures on the banks of the mighty Mississippi River.

Genres: Picture Books, Biography, Nonfiction, Childrens, Biography Memoir, History

32 pages, Paperback

First published September 22, 2003

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Don Brown is the award-winning author and illustrator of many picture book biographies. He has been widely praised for his resonant storytelling and his delicate watercolor paintings that evoke the excitement, humor, pain, and joy of lives lived with passion. School Library Journal has called him "a current pacesetter who has put the finishing touches on the standards for storyographies." He lives in New York with his family.

Reviews

[Danette · Rating 4 out of 5]

I learned how Mark Twain got his name and his connection with Haley’s Comet.

5/16/22 Read with Andres

[Dolly · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've read several stories by Mark Twain, but I've never read too much about the life of Samuel Langhorne Clemens. This is a good book for children, giving a detailed story of his life with out being overwhelming or boring. The illustrations are very nice and complement the story nicely. Our youngest lost interest about halfway through the book, but I thought it was a fascinating account of his life.

[Matthew · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was another outstanding biography of the early life of an important historical figure in American and literary history. I had no idea of the parallels that existed between his own life and that of the characters in Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn. It's all explained here. Great book. A must have for any biography shelf.

[Mitchell Friedman · Rating 4 out of 5]

A childhood picture book biography. But really a good one. But because it is Mark Twain that's something I'm judging to some degree on knowledge of the subject. Most of the other books in this series are of people I don't know. This one tells a story of how the writer became the writer and reminds me that I want to get back to reading (and re-reading) more Mark Twain at some point. This is another one courtesy of an Interlibrary Loan from the Toledo Public Library, Toledo, Oregon - this is the third one of these I've read from them.

[Kali Hilliard · Rating 3 out of 5]

3-4; biography; Cute and informative story on Mark Twain. I was shocked to find something I didn’t know about him through reading this children’s book! Highly recommend using this book in yr classroom or having it around at least!

[Shelli · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a fascinating mini-picture book biography on young Samuel Clements, better known as Mark Twain. A perfect read for students not ready to take on the author's writing but learn about one of America's most famous authors.

[Jackie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A short, story-book-like biography of one of America's most recognizable authors, Mark Twain, born Samuel Clemens. Some of the events noted in the book, show us where he got some of the ideas for his works. The muted, dreamlike illustrations were created from pen and ink and watercolor on paper.

[Valerie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A biography telling the story of Mark Twain's life as a young child growing up along the Mississippi. The book relates incidents that happened to the young child that become characters and parts of his future books.

[wildct2003 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good storytelling.