John Henry

by Christianne Jones, Ben Peterson (Illustrator)

Retells some of the legends of John Henry, an African-American hero who raced against a steam drill to lay railroad tracks on a mountain.

32 pages, Library Binding

First published January 1, 2005

Reviews

[Lynn Davidson · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a tall tale similar to Paul Bunyan. John Henry - a heroic African-American - was the fastest steel driver around. When a man invented a steam drill to replace manpower, John Henry challenged the machine, saying he could outwork it.
Beautifully illustrated.

[Kendra Twenter · Rating 2 out of 5]

Why end the book that way?

[Neha Amin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Review: This is a retelling of the famous tale, John Henry. It is a much shorter and child friendly version. I like the illustrations because, they are so bright and colorful. The story itself is not so interesting in my opinion.

Utilization: This is a good book that can be reenacted. You may even retell this story using a story set.

[Bethe · Rating 3 out of 5]

read the Spanish version of this book in English to a kindergarten class - usually it is the other way around, translating an English book into Spanish. Nice, short version of John Henry story, unfortunately too short to say if he really lived.

[Amy Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

AR 2.3 Read-It! Readers Green Level