Julius Lester/Jerry Pinkney: John Henry

This 1995 retelling of the tall-tale/folk song is inspirational at best.  Julius Lester embellishes the story with a flair in true tall-tale fashion, John Pinkney illustrates in his usual bright, elaborate style. 

Of note is the detail told in most John Henry stories where he is working on the railroad "for the man." In this story of African-American strength and perserverence, John Henry works for himself.  I like this and think it's a great addition to the story.  Both authors are African-American and have covered African-American subjects--including the once taboo Brer Rabbit tales--and molded them to their own liking. 
I liked the fact that they included background for adults in telling this story, references of John Henry used and how they came to create this book. 


I read this book to my 5 year old, he liked it well enough but didn't love it.  He appreciated the exaggerations (Ferret-Faced Freddy was so mean, he cried if he had a nice thought) and liked the artwork much like that from The Lion and the Mouse. 


Just for fun, here is Leadbelly's version of the eponymous song.