33. John Henry

John Henry by Julius Lester (Dial Books) 1994

Genre

Folklore

Honors

Boston Globe-Horn Book Awards, 1995, winner
Caldecott Medal, 1995, nominee
Show Me Readers Award, 1997, nominee
Golden Sower Award, 1997, winner
Land of Enchantment Book Award, 1998, nominee
SCASL Book Award (South Carolina), 1997, nominee

Review

Lester gives us the legend of John Henry from his birth until his burial.  Henry seems too big for the world from the outset.  His birth brings all the animals out of the forest to bear witness.  He instantly starts growing, and the confines of his home can't hold him as he destroys the family porch.  At one day old, Henry takes an axe and chops enough wood to rebuild the family porch and stock up on firewood.  His father gives him two sledges and he sets off to make his name.  In Lester's version of the tale, Henry beats the jackhammer through the mountain by a full mile.  Lester doesn't linger long on the death of Henry: everyone around hears (or thinks at the same time) that the important part of a person is how they live not how they die.  In Lester's telling Henry's body is taken to DC and perhaps interred on the White House lawn.

Opinion

Jerry Pinkey's illustrations are beautiful and help support Lester's version of the tale, which is less an allegory about the defeat of workers at the hands of industrialization (which is how I'd often read the story; in order to beat machines, we'd have to work ourselves to death).  Instead Lester's story celebrates a man too big and too wonderful for this world.  The celebration of Henry's life includes making him a crucial part of the American model of government, as his body lies at the foot of the White House.  (While this could be read as an allegory about how the US is built upon the backs of African Americans, it feels far more celebratory here: an understanding of the great contributions to American culture.  Perhaps both readings are appropriate).

Ideas

The book would be a great introduction to history lessons on the Transcontinental railroad and would make for a good building block for a program or lesson on folk tales.  The picture are gorgeous (the book was nominated for a Caldecott after all) and show Henry as a very normal looking human man, which really helps breathe life into the tale.