A Picture Book of Harriet Beecher Stowe (Picture Book Biographies) [Paperback]

David A. Adler (Author), Colin Bootman (Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 6 and up | Grade Level: 1 and up | Series: Picture Book Biographies

Author of instant bestseller "Uncle Tom's Cabin," Harriet Beecher Stowe dared to expose the horrors of slavery at a time when the American public was finally ready to acknowledge this terrible injustice.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 2-4-This biography offers easily accessible information supported by realistic, evocative oil paintings. The text begins with Stowe's early years and her love for reading. When her father became president of Lane Theological Seminary and the family moved from Connecticut to Cincinnati in 1832, she began to witness the horrors of slavery, which left a deep impression on her. Bootman's illustrations depict a youthful Stowe in a billowing dress and bonnet, absorbed in reading; slaves working the land; the mature writer with President Lincoln; and full spreads of scenes that would have been familiar to Stowe. The narrative will engage readers while imparting facts about the woman and the period in which she lived. However, quotes within the text are not documented.
Gina Powell, Hidenwood Elementary School, Newport News, VA
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Booklist

Gr. 2-4, younger for reading aloud. The famous abolitionist whose best-selling novel, Uncle Tom's Cabin, stirred people to hate slavery and fight the Civil War is the latest subject of Adler's Picture Book Biographies series. Some of the history and the book discussion will be beyond the target audience, including the final note that Tom is certainly not a role model and that "some consider the book racist." But Bootman's stirring, realistic oil paintings, including portraits of Stowe's family and of Abraham Lincoln as well as a double-page spread of slave women at work on a plantation, bring Stowe's life and the historical period up close. The combination of Stowe's personal story with a quiet account of the injustice she witnessed will introduce young readers to the facts about the woman who made a difference. Hazel Rochman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 6 and up
  
• Paperback: 32 pages
• Publisher: Holiday House (September 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0823418782
• ISBN-13: 978-0823418787
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 9.6 x 0.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 1.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,699,128 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I write both fiction and non-fiction. I begin my fiction with the main character. The story comes later. Of course, since I'll be spending a lot of time with each main character, why not have him or her be someone I like? Andy Russell is based, loosely, on a beloved member of my family. He's fun to write about and the boy who inspired the character is even more fun to know. Cam Jansen is based even more loosely on a classmate of mine in the first grade whom we all envied because we thought he had a photographic memory. Now, especially when my children remind me of some promise they said I made, I really envy Cam's amazing memory. I have really enjoyed writing about Cam Jansen and her many adventures. For my books of non-fiction I write about subjects I find fascinating. My first biography was Our Golda: The Life of Golda Meir. To research that book, I bought a 1905 set of encyclopedia. Those books told me what each of the places Golda Meir lived in were like when she lived there. I've written many other biographies, including books about Martin Luther King, Jr; George Washington; Abraham Lincoln; Helen Keller; Harriet Tubman; Anne Frank; and many others in my Picture Book Biography series. I've been a Yankee and a Lou Gehrig fan for decades so I wrote Lou Gehrig: The Luckiest Man. It's more the story of his great courage than his baseball playing. Children face all sorts of challenges and it's my hope that some will be inspired by the courage of Lou Gehrig. I am working now on another book about a courageous man, Janusz Korczak. My book One Yellow Daffodil is fiction, too, but it's based on scores of interviews I did with Holocaust survivors for my books We Remember the Holocaust, Child of the Warsaw Ghetto, The Number on My Grandfather's Arm, and Hiding from the Nazis. The stories I heard were compelling. One Yellow Daffodil is both a look to the past and to the future, and expresses my belief in the great spirit and strength of our children. I love math and was a math teacher for many years, so it was fun for me to write several math books including Fraction Fun, Calculator Riddles, and Shape Up! Fun with Triangles and Other Polygons. In my office I have this sign, "Don't Think. Just Write!" and that's how I work. I try not to worry about each word, even each sentence or paragraph. For me stories evolve. Writing is a process. I rewrite each sentence, each manuscript, many times. And I work with my editors. I look forward to their suggestions, their help in the almost endless rewrite process. Well, it's time to get back to dreaming, and to writing, my dream of a job. David A. Adler is the author of more than 175 children's books, including the Young Cam Jansen series. He lives in Woodmere, New York.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars a young child who just learned to read!, May 8, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: A Picture Book of Harriet Beecher Stowe (Picture Book Biographies) (Hardcover)

I really loved this book, the pictures were great and yet it still had a message.