Knockin' on Wood: Starring Peg Leg Bates [Hardcover]

Lynne Barasch (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 1-4–This inspiring biography of Clayton "Peg Leg" Bates, who lost his left leg in a cottonseed mill accident in 1919 at the age of 12, chronicles the man's amazing life from his days as the son of a sharecropper in South Carolina to his rise to fame as a tap dancer. His special step, the American Jet Plane, in which he "tapped across the stage, leaped five feet into the air, and landed on his peg leg with the other leg straight out" won over black and white audiences alike. Still, he was never allowed to eat or sleep in the same restaurants and hotels enjoyed by white vaudeville performers. Eventually he became so famous that he appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show and in movies, performed for the king and queen of England, and opened his own resort in the Catskills. Barasch's watercolor-and-ink cartoon paintings capture the poverty of the dancer's early life, the adulation of his fans, and his joyous love of dancing. Vignettes across a spread depict him performing typical tap steps in his own unique way. A final photograph of Bates in action is complemented by his words: "Don't look at me in sympathy,/I'm glad that I'm this way./I feel good, knockin' on wood." Pair this with Kathleen Krull's Wilma Unlimited (Harcourt, 1996) for a look at some real-life heroes.–Marianne Saccardi, Norwalk Community College, CT
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Gr. 2-3, younger for reading aloud. The name Peg Leg Bates is no longer familiar, but his story is captivating. Born a sharecropper's son, African American Clayton Bates never wanted to do anything but dance, yet he had to bring in money, so at 12, he got a job at a cottonseed factory. Within three days, he had lost his leg in a machine accident. Despite that misfortune, he pursued a successful dancing career. Wearing a wooden leg, he was soon performing for black audiences; eventually he made his way to national venues such as the Ed Sullivan show. Sprightly ink-and-watercolor art ably depicts both the poverty of Bates' early life and the colorful world of entertainment. A remarkable two-page spread bridges the before and after, showing many small images of Bates in various tap dancing positions. Barasch subtly sets the story against American racism; to join a white vaudeville troupe, Bates had to wear blackface, and to eat he had to find a restaurant in the black community. Still, Bates prevailed. Quotes at the book's conclusion offer a taste of his philosophy: "Black or white, one leg or two, it doesn't matter. Good is good." Ilene Cooper
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 6 and up
  
• Hardcover: 28 pages
• Publisher: Lee & Low Books (May 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1584301708
• ISBN-13: 978-1584301707
• Product Dimensions: 10.4 x 9.7 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #864,049 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

For as long as I can remember, drawing was what I did best. I hoped that art school would help me eventually find a way to use this. On the other hand, writing is something I never planned to do. Although I was an enthusiastic and indiscriminate reader from the time I was very young I never thought of writing as an occupation until my five year old daughter had an adventure. On her second day of For kindergarten she got on the wrong bus and went to the wrong school. After she was safe and sound again at home, I thought this would make a great story. And so, THE BUS FUSS was born. It was never published, but I was hooked.
Over the next several years many books followed. My ideas flooded in and came from people I knew. Everything I saw seemed to suggest another story.
RADIO RESCUE is the story of my father's ham radio days in 1920s New York City. My endless interviews with him gave me a window into his life that otherwise would not have been open.
HIROMI'S HANDS is the story of my daughter's childhood Japanese American friend whose father trained her to be a Sushi chef. I met Hiromi as an adorable, shy five year old child and came to know her well over the next eighteen years.
KNOCKIN' ON WOOD is the story of Peg Leg Bates. the one legged dancer. I first saw him on television on the Ed Sullivan show and wrote his story many years later after hearing my daughter's tap teacher talk about the great tappers he knew.
A COUNTRY SCHOOLHOUSE tells the story of my husband's school days in a three room schoolhouse in Dutchess country in the 1940s. I had listened to his amusing anecdotes about this for years and finally wrote them down.
Not all my stories are nonfiction. OLD FRIENDS is the story of an old lady who recognizes her childhood friend in the form of a dog. Sometime after writing this story, much to my surprise, I realized that the old lady was a perfect description of my own grandmother!
Telling stories and making pictures gives me great joy. When words and pictures work well together they form something new, something greater than the sum of its parts. I look forward to bringing many more stories to life in this way.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars A True Life Tale..., April 22, 2011

By 

T. Binion "Dust Bowl Books" (Orl., Fl.) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Knockin' on Wood: Starring Peg Leg Bates (Hardcover)

I was researching Peg Leg Bates because I am acquainted with his great niece who had told me
briefly of Peg's story. I stumbled across the book title and bought a copy for her. She was so surprised !
This is the real story !

5.0 out of 5 stars Peg Leg Bates: An Inspiration to Everyone, April 6, 2010

By 

James Guilford Jr. - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Knockin' on Wood: Starring Peg Leg Bates (Hardcover)

This is an inspiring and entertaining book about an individual who overcame adversity to create a very successful life. Interesting reading for adults and children.

5.0 out of 5 stars Rutgers University Project on Economics and Children, March 3, 2009

By 

Yana V. Rodgers "econkids.rutgers.edu" (New Brunswick, NJ) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Knockin' on Wood: Starring Peg Leg Bates (Hardcover)

Clayton Bates, born into a sharecropping family in South Carolina in the early 1900s, hated farming but loved to dance. Nothing his mother did could stop him from walking into town to the barbershop to tap dance for the customers. She also discouraged Clayton from working in the local cottonseed mill when he was twelve, but Clayton was determined to switch from farm work to factory work.

Tragically, he lost his left leg after a terrible accident at the mill, but he did not lose his fierce determination and love of dancing. Clayton "Peg Leg" Bates emerged to become one of the country's most famous tap dancers, performing in front of white and black audiences and opening one of the first resorts in New York's Catskill Mountains to welcome African Americans. Knockin' on Wood makes an important contribution to children's literature by raising awareness of this remarkable and talented man.