Rita Lorraine HubbardRezensionen

PreS-Gr 3—Charming illustrations, photographs, an author's note, and text work in tandem to tell the inspiring story
of Mary Walker, a formerly enslaved Black woman, sharecropper, maid, and mother who learned to read at the age
of 116

I love this celebration of the strength of Mary Walker, who learned to read at the age of 114.

What an inspiration to learn to read for the first time at the age of 116! And if records could be verified it looks like Mary Walker would be the 2nd oldest known person in the world, as it was believed she passed at the age of 121. As always, I love Oge Mora’s illustration, she is one of my favorite illustrators. I think the way this biographical story is told will also be easier for kids to understand and enjoy as it is written more like a storybook and has full page illustrations.

This book tells the story of how it is never too late to learn. Its inspirational nature gives way to compassion and tenacity. Mary was over 100 years old when she took a class and learned to read, finally. The yet was an understatement. She waited 100 years for the opportunity to make her own dream come true. A book of courage, tenacity, handwork and commitment.

This was a nice story, but nothing really stood out for me. My students will be bored, when she learned to read it was so long after other things had happened. However, it was a great accomplishment!

Incredible story of determination and resilience!

Really impressive story

Note: I accessed a digital review copy of this book through Edelweiss.

This is the story about Mary Walker, an individual who didn't learn how to read until she was 116 years old. Mary was born into slavery, was freed when she was 15, and started a family at 20. From there on, she spent all her time taking care of her family. All her life, the people around her read for her, and Mary had always wanted to learn how, but felt like she never had the time to. It wasn't until she was 114 years old and all of her family members had passed, did she feel motivated to learn how to read. By 116, Mary had learned how to read. This is such a great book and inspirational story. Illustrations are unique and collage-like, with several different art styles peeking through. The dominant message of this book is that you are never too old to learn.

This inspirational book tells the true story of Mary Walker who had a dream to learn to read. She was a slave as a young girl until the Emancipation Proclamation freed her at 15 yrs old. She was married by twenty years old and had a son. Mary was a hard worker throughout her life. She worked long hours with only a half-day off on Saturday. She took care of her growing family, worked as a sharecropper, and long hours cooking, cleaning, and babysitting to make money. She worked to help others in need, too. By the time Mary was in her 90s her entire family had passed away. When she was 114 years old she had the opportunity to finally learn how to read and she embraced it. Mary worked very hard, once again, but this time it was to learn to read.

Critical analysis: This is a great story to teach children the power of having a dream and persisting, determination and grit. Children can make inferences about feelings, learn to see from different perspectives, Children can explore authentic stories about this time period in history and make moral judgments and learn about ethical responsibilities.

Favorite quote "When I am free, I'll go where I want, and I will rest when I want, and I'll learn to read, too.

Fabulous Story. A true story. I’m not sure I would want to live to be over 120 years old, but what Mary endured and still took time to learn. She recognized that there was something she needed to be free – the ability to read. This story is amazing. It’s a powerful tool to show children you are never too old to learn something new.

Born into slavery in 1848 and freed at the age of fifteen, Mary Walker had always wanted to learn to read - something she associated with the freedom of flight. But the hard circumstances of her life - enslavement, poverty, the necessity of hard work - left little time to learn, and there were few opportunities. She treasured the Bible she had been given however, and many, many years later, when she was 114 years old, she finally got her chance to learn...

I was tearing up as I read The Oldest Student: How Mary Walker Learned to Read, and I thank the online friend who recommended it to me. With an engaging, inspirational tale from author Rita Lorraine Hubbard, and beautiful artwork from illustrator Oge Mora, who won a Caldecott Honor for her Thank You, Omu, this was a rewarding picture-book to peruse, both from an aesthetic and a storytelling perspective. I appreciated the inclusion of the various photographs of Mary, on the endpapers, and the author's brief note at the end. The inclusion of a bibliography on the colophon was a little confusing - I thought it should have been at the rear of the book, with the note - but also welcome. There is something terribly satisfying about the idea of a long-deferred dream finally coming to fruition, and this true-life tale certainly taps into that. There is also something terribly poignant about all of the injustices that Mary Walker had to face, all of the roadblocks between her and her dream. I've seen quite a bit of discussion of late, in the children's book world, of how and when to present the evils of slavery to very young children. For all that it does not focus on slavery throughout the narrative, this simple but uplifting tale of a woman who had to wait more than a century to learn to read, does a better job, I think, in capturing the inhumanity of that institution, than many another, more explicit title. Highly recommended, to all picture-book readers, whether they are looking for stories that address the legacy of slavery, or for uplifting, inspirational stories of people who never gave up on their dream.

True story of a woman who made her education a priority and was determined to learn to read, even when she was over 100!

"Mary Walker, who learned to read at the age of 116, is introduced to young readers in this lovingly illustrated picture book.

Born into slavery in Alabama, Mary Walker was not allowed to learn to read. When the Emancipation Proclamation outlawed slavery, she was 15. She was later gifted a Bible, which she couldn’t read, but she kept it and made marks in it when her children were born. She worked hard and took care of her family and kept postponing her goal of learning to read. But she outlived her family, including a son who died at the age of 94. In 1963, she enrolled in a literacy program. “Could someone her age learn to read? She didn’t know, but by God, she was going to try.” By 1969 she had learned to read, been certified the nation’s oldest student (twice), received the key to the city of Chattanooga, and had her birthday celebrated by the city to recognize her achievement. While the author’s note mentions that some of the details that round out the text are invented, the most amazing facts of this story are the ones that are documented. Mary Walker was a living connection to a history people wanted to forget, and her indomitable spirit comes across beautifully in this book. Caldecott honoree Mora’s (Thank You, Omu!, 2018) collages endear Walker to readers, each spread creating an intriguing scene of textures and layers.

Enjoy this book with every child you know; let Mary Walker become a household name. (selected bibliography) (Picture book/biography. 5-9)" A Kirkus Starred Review (www.kirkusreviews.com)

Annual Goodreads Choice Awards reading project: Read all the Picture Book nominees! (20 of 20). Project complete!

The story is a bit flat on the page, but the heart of it is quite inspiring as a Black woman who was born a slave in 1848 finally learns to read in the 1960s at the unimaginable age of 116.

An inspiring story about Mary Walker, a former slave who dreamed of freedom and the ability to read. Mary worked hard her whole life, but never forgot about her dream to read and turn the "squiggles" into meaning. Mary outlived her entire family, including her children. When she was 114 she decided that she finally had time to learn to read. She studied for two years and by the time she was 116 she was able to read. She was declared the Nation's Oldest Student. A great example to youth of perseverance. Beautiful illustrations complete this remarkable story.

Mary Walker was born a slave in 1848 in Alabama. As the author explains in a note at the end of the book, very little is known about Mary’s life from the time she became free at age fifteen following Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation until she learned to read at age 116. Hubbard allows, “I chose to imagine other details to fill in the blanks.” (The author also related that although Mary had been interviewed after she became famous, she “was too afraid to answer some of the questions. Even though it was the mid ‘60s and slavery was long past, she was hesitant to speak out because of 'the Klux.'”)

Thus the author adds particulars that would have been common to most emancipated slaves, such as their precarious situation after they were set free:

>“What [the Emancipation Proclamation] didn’t say was how a family with nothing except the tattered garments on their backs could find food, clothes, and a place to sleep.”

[An organization called the Freedman’s Bureau was established in 1865 by Congress to help former slaves, with the intention of providing food, housing, and medical aid. The Bureau faced significant barriers however, including lack of funding and personnel, and the entrenched racism that existed throughout the country, not just the South. The president himself, Andrew Johnson, was a virulent racist, and opposed any legislation to extend the tenure and resources of the Bureau. Bureau agents in the South faced constant danger from angry whites. In the summer of 1872, Congress, responding in part to pressure from white Southerners, dismantled the Freedmen’s Bureau. Meanwhile, whites in the South begrudgingly paid former slaves to work for them, for laughable wages.]

Mary worked seven days a week cleaning houses and caring for white children, earning a quarter a week. When she got married, Mary and her husband worked as sharecroppers, again working sunrise to sunset for the barest subsistence.
By the time Mary was 114, she had outlived not only two husbands but all of her three children (including a son who died at the age of 94). During her whole life, she longed to learn to read, but never had the opportunity. Now, she heard about a reading class being held in her apartment building, and “put everything she had into learning to read.”

Her hard work finally paid off, and word of her accomplishment traveled:

“Chattanooga’s mayor, newspaper journalists across the country, and a man from the U.S. Department of Education, who said, ‘Mrs. Mary Walker, I pronounce you the nation’s oldest student,’ all shared her joy.”

Mary missed her many family members who had died, but now she could read the Bible for solace. She continued to receive attention and acclaim: in 1966, President Lyndon B. Johnson sent her birthday wishes (she was 118), as did President Nixon in 1969. She was even taken on an airplane ride. The author reports:

“As the airplane dipped and soared like those swallow-tailed kites of long ago, Mary decided that flying was a lot like reading: they both made a body feel as free as a bird.”

Mary was fond of saying “You’re never too old to learn.”

Mary Walker died at age 121 in 1969. She could still see and hear, and write her name. She lived through twenty-six presidents.

Oge Mora uses mixed-media collages that look like tapestries to illustrate the main events of Walker’s life. The squiggles shown on walls at the beginning of the story turn into words as Mary develops the ability to decipher them. Birds are included to indicate both the freedom of body with emancipation, and the freedom of mind with the ability to read.

Evaluation: One might justifiably think of this story as the quintessential testament to perseverance. Nothing got Mary down or diminished her resolve. It is a truly inspirational story. As the author said in explaining why she chose to write Mary's story: “The more I learned about Mary, the more I felt that children and adults could benefit from reading about someone who believed ‘it’s never too late to pursue your dreams’.”

Stellar picture book for school age children recounting how Mary Walker learned to read at age 114 and became “the oldest student”. Filled not only with Mary’s life from a slave to freedom and beyond but so also much history. Ms. Walker lived through the twenty-six presidents and passed away at the age of 121 years old. Oge Mora’s illustrations in acrylic, china marker, colored pencil, patterned paper and book clippings are exquisite and overflowing with emotion. Inspiring story that is perfect for Black History or Women’s History months.½

"You're never too old to learn."

Mary Walker was born into slavery in 1848, freed fifteen years later, and married with her first child at twenty. She had her family Bible and always wanted to learn to read, but there was never time - she worked well past 60. She listened to her children and grandchildren read aloud to her, but she outlived her whole family. Finally, she joined a reading class in her building, and at the age of 116, learned to read.

Mary died at age 121; she lived through 26 presidents (Author's Note). A mile marker in Chattanooga, TN, commemorates her life.

*
Re-read January 2022

Imagine not knowing how to read for most of your life. For Mary Walker, after a hard life of slavery, emancipation, sharecropping and work, work, work, she did not learn how to read until she was 116 years old. Her resilience, gumption, and pursuit of a long-held dream are respectfully described.

Review: Hammering for Freedom
This story is about a young black man named William Lewis and his quest to free him and his family from slavery through blacksmithing for the village
I really enjoyed the book and not much is keeping me from a 5/5 ranking. This book was superbly written, told a interesting and captivating story that was very well executed in all aspects. Even leading to additional info on the back for further review. All while giving us info not only on the time period but Lewis himself showing history with respect and not glossing anything that may be problematic. Memory was great, the theme of him working harder and harder throughout his life to free more and more of his family is admirable. With the sounds of the clanging of metals in the book to really sell and keep readers interested. The art was well done and well contrasted. Using the same color pallet but swapping primary colors well when the scene called for it with a more cartoony/realistic blend to keep readers engaged. Not to mention there is a lot of extra things to dissect in nearly every page you can talk about with your class. Word difficulty was not overly complex but can challenge readers and make them progress and be better readers. But only up to 3rd grade where I think is the demographic this book is trying to reach. Despite the word difficulty I can in fact say that this story could be told to any group at any age and still be entertaining. It was also very interesting to know what happened and the updates after he purchased family member after family member from slavery.
Memorability 5/5
Art 5/5
Enjoyment 5/5
Word Difficulty 5/5
Interesting info 5/5
Overall: 5/5
Best Use: Numerous uses. Extremely versatile

I enjoyed this book; it put the perspective of hard work and determination into play. Bill was a young boy who was born into a slave family; he was a hard working slave just as his family was. He knew he had to do something for his family, but he just didn't know what yet until his owner trained and taught him how to become a blacksmith. After mastering his craft of blacksmithing, he blew up in notoriety. His owner let him keep some of his profits from fixing and making things for customers. He then made a deal with his owner to let him do work outside of the farm. He saved his money and freed himself and opened a blacksmith shop. Opening the blacksmith shop was the best thing that happened to him. He worked all his life to free his family; he never stopped until he freed them all and bought a big house for everyone to stay. It is from determination and hard work that he freed his whole family. This book shows the true meaning of family, he didn't have to free everyone, but he did because family is family no matter what! With all the odds against, he still rose above the discrimination and hatred and made a happy life with his family.

Mary Walker grew up during a time when education wasn't that important. Mary missed a big part of learning, which was learning how to read. As time went on, Mary began to build a family. She had three sons. Mary and her husband relied on their sons to read to them. Once Mary's husband and sons passed away, she realized that without them, she didn't know anything. One day, there was a reading class being offered at Mary's nursing home. She decided that there was no more time to wait. She needed to learn to read. At the age of 114 Mary Walker learned to read and became known as the "oldest student". I really liked this story because it has a really good message. You are never too old to learn new things. I also think this book would be a great read for teachers because not all students learn at the same pace and this book helps show that. As long as the students are working hard, goals can be achieved.½

An inspiring true story about a slave who ended up buying his and his family's freedoms though over 40 years of hard work in a blacksmith shop.

This wonderful story depicts a life of a former slave, William Lewis, who bought himself and his entire family out of slavery. His biological father was Colonel James Lewis, the master of the plantation. Even though his dad owned him, Colonel still charges an incredible amount of money for freedom of each family member. Bill Lewis learned a blacksmith trade and became the BEST at it in the entire city of Chattanooga. He worked around the clock his entire life and made his family free and wealthy. First he bought out his wife, then his kid, then himself, then brother, then parents, and finally, his sister. Bill and his wife had 10 children. It is an inspiring story about hard work and never giving up.

This book tells the true story of William “Bill” Lewis, born into slavery around 1810. His biological father was Colonel James Lewis, a slaveholder who owned a plantation in Winchester, Tennessee.

Colonel Lewis decided Bill should train to be a blacksmith, and Bill got so good at it that local people began to pay for his services. Colonel Lewis let Bill keep a little of the money for himself:

“Each coin he saved brought him closer to purchasing his freedom. Once he was free, he could spend his money on whatever he wanted. And what he wanted was to free his family.”

Bill saved for years. Eventually he married a woman named Jane, and they began to have children. Thus he needed even more money, and he asked Colonel Lewis to let him rent himself out. The Colonel agreed on the condition that Bill pay him $350 a year as “rent” for his freedom, and then he could keep the rest. Bill, then age 27, agreed.

Bill must have been very good indeed. He earned enough money to open his own blacksmith shop in Chattanooga. There, in 1837, he made history as the first African American blacksmith in the city. He worked day and night so he could buy Jane’s freedom. As the author explains, “Once Jane was free, any future children she and Bill had would also be free.” He paid $1,000 for her freedom. [Note: $1,000 in 1837 is equivalent in purchasing power to $25,533.33 in 2017.]

He continued to work hard, buying his own freedom for $1,000 next. He still had his son Eldridge’s freedom to purchase, and finally was able to do so for $400. In 1851, he paid the colonel $300, the total asking price for his elderly mother and aunt. Yet, his siblings still remained in bondage. So he worked even harder. Finally he was able to return to Winchester with the $2,000 for his two brothers.

At age 50, Bill was able to buy a big house with $2,000 cash for his ten children and extended family. The author concludes:

“Twenty-six years after Bill’s arrival in Chattanooga, his plan was complete. He had worked, sweated, and prayed. Now he finally had his loving family around him, just like when he was a boy. Only now they were all free.”

In an Afterword, the author also tells about Bill’s brave exploits during the Civil War. Nevertheless, Union soldiers seized Bill’s blacksmith shop during the war, and most of his fortune disappeared. He and Jane were forced to file for a government pension.

Bill died on September 2, 1896, at around the age of 86. The author reports that his obituary said he left behind “a host of friends, both white and colored, and always bore an excellent record for thrift, honesty and sobriety.”

Today, there is a historical marker in Chattanooga that was erected in his honor.

Illustrator John Holyfield uses full-color acrylic illustrations that richly capture the emotions of the characters in the story with an overall emphasis on positive and uplifting depictions of African-American lives, even in slavery.

Evaluation: It’s hard not to be awe-struck and inspired by the story of Bill Lewis. My only criticism would be that the author did not stress how unusual Bill's situation was, because of being allowed to develop his outstanding talent; being allowed to profit from it; and being allowed to purchase the freedom of himself and his family. The author also doesn’t explain the reason why Bill needed to buy Jane’s freedom before his own. (The status of children, whether slave or free, was determined by the status of the mother, not the father.)

Nevertheless, this uplifting story is both instructive and inspirational. It has a strong emotional core that will pull in readers and help them learn important history at the same time, offering a strong counter-narrative to the common canard that slaves were “lazy.” It will no doubt also start questions and conversations about social and cultural justice.