JOHN HENRY 

By Julius Lester Illustrated by Jerry Pinkney

Image Credit: www.betterworldbooks.com 

1. Bibliography 

Lester, Julius, Jerry Pinkney, and Jane Byers. Bierhorst. John Henry. New York: Dial, 1994. Print. ISBN 9780803716070

2. Plot Summary

JOHN HENRY is a traditional literature story of the man that was known to be larger than life. At John Henry's birth, he began to grow instantly and began a man who was faster than a horse and  stronger than a machine. He challenged a machine operator to see who could tunnel through a mountain the fastest. John Henry swung his sledge hammers so fast while winning the challenge that rainbows surrounded him. 

3. Critical Analysis

JOHN HENRY is a traditional literature story from an African American folktale. This story is extremely fasted paced. From the time of John Henry's birth he is already growing into a young man. Lester used descriptive writing that most children can understand including "the air seemed to be dancing to the rhythm of his hammers" and "it was as hard as anger and so big around." Lester included a brief background on the legend of John Henry before the story begins. This will help readers to have a better foundation of John Henry before reading the story.

Cultural Markers for the story include various phrase like "Didn't nobody see John Henry" and "drinking a soda mom." Many children will need to use picture and context clues to understand the meaning of soda mom. Through this writing children will be exposed to language that was used in the past by African Americans. The reader is also exposed to the respect that children have for their elders including working on the house. John Henry also confronts the "meanest man in the state" where John Henry won the race and Freddy became nice.

In the illustrations by Jerry Pinkney we see many cultural markers including skin tone, facial features, and hairstyles. Even though the story moves quickly at the beginning, the illustrations help the reader to keep up with the pace.  The illustrations are mostly full page with colors that are blended using pencils, colored pencils, and watercolors. Pinkney helps the reader to comprehend how fast baby John Henry grew by using the illustrations to show him jumping from his mother's arms and the expressions on the faces of his parents. The illustrations also portray how big and strong John Henry was compared to others.

4. Review Excepts
~HORN BOOK (3/1995): "The original legend of John Henry and how he beat the steam drill with his sledgehammer has been enhanced and enriched, in Lester's retelling, with wonderful contemporary details and poetic similes that add humor, beauty, and strength. Pinkney's evocative illustrations -- especially the landscapes, splotchy and impressionistic, yet very solid and vigorous -- are little short of magnificent."

~SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL (11/1994): " 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."

5. Connections
~ After reading this story, students can research the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad that went through West Virginia

~Read other stories about John Henry and compare contrast the stories.