Review: JOHN HENRY by Julius Lester

1. BIBLIOGRAPHY

Lester, Julius. 1994. JOHN HENRY. Ill. by Jerry Pinkney. New York: Dial Books.ISBN 0803716060

2. PLOT SUUMMARY

John Henry may or may not have been an actual person, but the hero of this folktale is a captivating character. From the time of his birth when he “jumped out of his mama’s arms and started growing,” John Henry was no ordinary person. John Henry’s birth was so memorable that it attracted the attention of the sun, moon, and woodland creatures. After he jumped out of his mama’s arms and started growing, he grew so quickly that he burst through the roof of the front porch. As with all tall tales, John Henry accomplishes feats which no ordinary man could achieve and exemplifies the character traits of kindness and hard work. The day after he was born, he helped his father re-build the porch roof he had broken, and added a new wing on the house. After winning a race on foot against a horse, John Henry headed off to West Virginia to find work building the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad, where he had his famous race against the steam drill.

3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS

A Caldacott Honor winning book, this version of John Henry is a fast-moving and interesting folk tale, which combines the storytelling of Julius Lester with the artistry of Jerry Pinkney. Set in the Allegheny Mountains between 1870 and 1873, the re-telling of a famous Black folk ballad is rich with metaphors and figurative language. I love the visual image of the sun, which was “peeping out from behind the moon’s skirts trying to get a look.” Pickney continues this use of descriptive language when telling that Ferret Faced Freddy’s, voice “sounded like bat wings on tombstones” and “the rainbow draped around him (John Henry), like love.” These metaphors and many others bring the book to life, and create rhythm and energy to the reading.

Jerry Pickney brought the realistic images of the curious animals and the human characters to life in beautiful earth-toned colored pencil and watercolor. The impression of size and strength is conveyed in the paintings of John Henry carrying the two twenty-pound sledge hammers over his shoulders with one hand. But when standing next to the mountain “as big as hurt feelings”, John Henry is a small figure in the corner.

The cultural markers in this story are evident in the both the rhythmic dialogue and illustrations. An example of cultural dialect is shown when the narrator says that John Henry built “one of them jacutzis.” Another example is shown when Lester tells us that Ferret-Faced Freddy and his horse rode by, and they were “sho’ nuf moving,” but “Didn’t nobody see John Henry.” The varied skin tones features of the characters add realism to both the illustrations and the text. Also adding to the background of this story is the note at the beginning of the book which gives the historical setting and background information about the basis for the folk tale and the building of the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad. Although I had read it to my 5^th graders years ago, this story was well worth re-reading.

4. REVIEW EXCERPTS

SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL Review: “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.”

BOOKLIST REVIEW: Based on the popular black folk ballad about the contest between John Henry and the steam drill, this picture-book version is a tall tale and a heroic myth, a celebration of the human spirit. Like Lester's great collections of the Uncle Remus tales, also illustrated by Pinkney, the story is told with rhythm and wit, humor and exaggeration, and with a heart-catching immediacy that connects the human and the natural world.

 PUBLISHERS WEEKLY REVIEW: 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. .

5. CONNECTIONS

This is great book to use when teaching a unit on tall tales. I read it with my 5^th grade students several years ago. My students read other tall tales about characters such as Pecos Bill and Paul Bunyan and compared the main characters. They discussed the story elements which make up a tall tale, and listed the larger-than-life actions which happened in each book. Students could then write their own tall tale and illustrate it. They could do their illustrations using pencil, colored pencil and watercolor like Jerry Pinkney did.

Other picture books written by Julius Lester or illustrated by Jerry Pinkney:

Pinkney, Jerry. The Lion and the Mouse. ISBN-10: 9780316013567
Holiday, Billie, and Arthur Herzog Jr.. God Bless the Child. Ill.  by Jerry Pinkney. ISBN-10: 0060287977
Lester, Julius. Uncle Remus: The Complete Tales. Ill. by Jerry Pinkney. ISBN-10: 0803724519