Uncle Jed's Barbershop Historical Fiction Literature Selection

Summary:

The book I read today was Uncle Jed’s Barbershop, it was written by Margaree King Mitchell.  This book was about Sarah Jean’s Uncle Jed.  Jedediah Johnson, aka Uncle Jed, was a barber and he traveled all across the country to cut hair because he did not have his own barbershop.  Uncle Jed dreamed of owning his barbershop and his dream finally becomes a reality through overcoming the obstacles that were laid before him and hard work.

Evaluation of genre:

The genre for this book would be historical fiction.  This setting of this book takes place in the South where most individuals where sharecroppers at the time. For the individuals that were able to own their own land, they were just trying to keep their land and their home.  The plot has a few twists and turns that the author has put in the book and they are plausible.  In the book Uncle Jed traveled all over the South to cut people’s hair that needed a haircut.  Before Uncle Jed started being a traveling barber Sarah Jane’s dad had to travel over 30 miles for a haircut.  The author’s authenticity of the details allows the reader to know that the setting affects the plot and the characters.  James Ransome painted the illustrations in the book.  Mr. Ransome used oil paint on paper to create the rich detail, which helps enhance the characterization, plot, and detail of the story.  In one part of the book Sarah Jane becomes ill and has to be taken to the doctor’s office, Mr. Ransome’s illustration of the black families waiting in the doctor’s office with worry on their face, as they wait for all of the white patients to be seen.  The illustrations along with the words capture the true essence of this place and time in history.

 

Questions to Ask:

Who has been to a barbershop?

When you grow-up what career/job would you like to have?

How many of you save your money?


What did you like the least about the story?

How did Uncle Jed help Sarah Jean's parents and Sarah Jean?

Do you think it is important to have dreams (or rather things that you would like to do one day)?

In the story Uncle Jed rode a horse to get from town to town, how did we get from one place to another now?

In the illustrations how are the clothes different than how we dress today?

Have you ever helped someone that needed help?

How did helping that person make you feel?

Activities:

One motivational activity would be to create a 3D present for Uncle Jed for his barbershop.  The children could make “clippers”, “comb”, or ”broom” articles a barber may need.  The children could make the gifts maybe out of play dough or other miscellaneous items they could find that maybe in their classroom and present the gifts to Uncle Jed. The gifts would be accompanied with a short essay to explain why they choose the gift (s) that they would like to give him.

Another motivational activity would be for the children to create a newspaper about the opening day of Uncle Jed’s Barbershop.    The front page would be “Uncle Jed’s Barbershop Now Open”.  The editorials in the newspaper would explain the obstacles Uncle Jed overcame, how long he waited to finally be able to open his barbershop, and how Uncle Jed never gave up on the dream of owning his own barbershop. The advertisements could be for half -priced haircuts, or grand opening specials.  The newspaper would reflect that this was a special day for Uncle Jed, and it was a reason to celebrate.

My Thoughts:

This was a great book!  This book was very inspirational.  I think the author and the illustrator captured the essence of never giving up on one’s dream no matter how many obstacles are put in front of you.  I also believe that the author captured the family spirit and what it means to sacrifice for others and even when you know you may never get it back in return.  Before having to take this class I would have never thought of the genre and I would have probably never checked this book out of the library, but this really is a great book.   What makes this a great book in my opinion is back in that day and time those individuals had less than what we have right now, and Uncle Jed through perseverance accomplished the goal of owning a barbershop. 

Margaree Mitchell King was inspired to write Uncle Jed’s Barbershop, after a visit to her son’s elementary school in Mississippi back in 1993 and realizing that children in her son’s first grade classroom that the children in her son’s classroom did not appear to have any self-esteem and that they did not have support from their homes.  Some of these children had not seen a book.  Mrs. Mitchell felt that if she could write a book that would inspire the children about achieving dreams this would help motivate them to continue with school so that they would have a better life (Olemiss 2007).  Mrs. Mitchell has also written Granddaddy’s Gift and she is doing research for her next project on Buffalo Soldiers.

References

Cullinan, B. & Galda L. & Sipe L. (2010) Literature and the Child. 7^th Ed. Belmont, CA. Wadsworth Cengage Learning.

Mitchell, M. K. (1993). Uncle Jed’s Barbershop. Simon & Shuster. New York, NY.

Mitchell, M.K. (2007) Margaree King Mitchell.  Retrieved from http://www.olemiss.edu/mwp/dir/mitchell_margaree_king/