Sojourner Truth Biography Selection

Summary:

               Today I read Sojourner Truth Early Abolitionist, by Joanne Mattern.  This book is a biography about Sojourner Truth’s life.  She was born a slave but she freed from slavery.  She traveled the country and spoke out against slavery and she also made speeches about women’s rights.

Evaluation of genre:

               The genre of the book is a biography.   This book tells the reader about Sojourner Truth’s life as a slave and her life as a free slave.  Sojourner Truth was an ordinary person who went on to do extraordinary things for other people.

Questions To Ask:

Have you ever tried to help anybody?

Did you know that women were not allowed to vote like they can now?

Do you know what an activist is?

Did you know that Sojourner Truth was an activist like Martin Luther King Jr.?

What fact did you find interesting?

Did you know anything about Sojourner Truth before you were read the biography? If so what information can you add?

Activities:

               A motivational activity would be for the children to create a newspaper and the front page could read the date that slaves were given their freedom.  There could be editorials from President Lincoln and Sojourner Truth with their opinions on the slaves receiving their freedom.  The children could compose advertisements for Sojourner Truth speaking engagements at the church with regards to women’s rights.

               Another motivational activity would be for the children to write an once/now essay paper.  The students could write how Black Americans were once slaves and now many years later we now have a Black President. The students could write how once Sojourner was a slave but she became a free slave and she worked hard to free the other slaves.  Then the children could write that now we have a black president and how far black Americans have come.

My Thoughts:

                I think this is a good biography for children.  Sojourner Truth was an important historical figure to no t just African Americans but also women.  I think that this biography is just the right size for children to read and understand who Sojourner Truth was.  The author of this book, Joanne Mattern, wrote the biography on Steve Jobs also.  Mrs. Mattern writes her biographies on famous figure and she gives the reader just the right amount of information.  Mrs. Mattern keeps in mind that it is children that she is writing for. I think she does a really great job conveying to the audience the information that they need to know about the famous person.

References

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

Mattern, J. (2003). Sojouner Truth: Early Abolitionist. Rosen Publishing, New York, N.Y.

Mattern, J. (2013). Joanne Mattern.  Retrieved from https://www.lernerbooks.com/Pages/Author-Illustrator-Details.aspx?contactid=2254