From School Library Journal
Grade 2-5-This picture-book biography begins with a full-color portrait of Penn and a short paragraph summing up his beliefs and principles. Subsequent pages tell his life story but do little to illuminate the man. Of his childhood, Kroll notes that Penn survived a bout with smallpox at the age of three, that he attended grammar school, and was exposed to the ideas of the Quaker movement. As a young man he was expelled from Oxford College for not attending the required religious services. Few other personal anecdotes are provided. The fact that he was the father of 14 children is included only in the afterword. The text focuses on the political situations of the time and the many changes in Britain's government and often reads like a barely fleshed-out version of the chronology. A crucial moment in Penn's life, when he was tricked by his business manager into signing a paper that ultimately threw him into debtor's prison, is mentioned in a cursory manner. The text states that he was "so distracted he never read" the document. Why was he distracted? This and many other details that would have made the subject come alive are missing. While students may appreciate obtaining rudimentary research information amid elegant illustrations, they will not be inspired by this treatment of the founder of Pennsylvania. Strictly for reports.
Jackie Hechtkopf, University of Maryland, College Park Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Kroll's life of colonialist William Penn, abundantly illustrated by Ronald Himler, touches on Penn's early years, his conversion to the Quaker faith, the land grant in the New World that was given to him, and his brushes with the law, including debt problems and accusations of treason. The subject is probably too extensive for the picture-book format, and at times young readers, who cannot be expected to know much about the social history of seventeenth-century England and Pennsylvania, may be confused by a sentence such as "Because Quakers feel
all people should be treated equally, Penn and Mead refused to remove their hats in court," or the juxtaposition of seemingly unrelated sentences: "William freed all his slaves, but made them tenants on or near his estate. On October 28, 1701, a new
Frame gave the Assembly the right to create laws." Indeed, children may be surprised to learn that Penn owned slaves, since this is slavery's first mention in the text. The watercolor, pencil, and gouache paintings light up the book with their mix of dramatic scenes and sensitive portraits. Despite the shortcomings of the ambitious text, this biographical picture book will be a useful and certainly a handsome addition to library collections.
Carolyn Phelan
