A Chilling Tale

I, Matthew Henson

Written by Carole Boston Weatherford

Illustrated by Eric Velasquez

Walker Publishing Company, 2008

29 pages

Nonfiction

            In the JSU library, the children’s books are often all over the place, so I found this one just lying on a self.  I liked the cover, so I picked it up, started reading it, and couldn’t put it down.  The story is about the first African-American man to reach the North Pole in 1909.  The book gives a brief look at Henson’s life from the age of thirteen up until he reached the North Pole.  The details of the struggles that African-American people went through during that time are staggering, but the triumphs of Henson make the struggles look like a walk in the park.  It’s definitely worth the effort to stop by the library or your local book store to read about this extraordinary man who conquered the North Pole and racism in one life time.

            The impressionistic illustrations are done with prisma color, nupastel and prisma soft pastel on Wallis paper.  After researching Wallis paper, the illustrations are even more beautiful to me.  The snow on the page looks so much like actual snow, that you’d expect it to be wet when you touch it.  The colors are used give the illustrations the coldness the author wanted the reader to feel.  

            This book would be good for kindergarten through fourth grade.  The book is easy to read, but has a subject matter that any age will understand.  I would use this book in a character education class to teach children about diversity and acceptance.  A science lesson would be good for this book to teach students about North Pole.  A social studies lesson about different cultures will fit in great with this book.  To my knowledge this book has not won any awards.