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John Henry: An American Legend is a children's picture book written and illustrated by Ezra Jack Keats, which tells a story about John Henry, who was born with a hammer in his hand and was inspired by the American folk hero of the same name. The text is rather simple and straightforward.
Today we tell a traditional American story called a “tall tale.”. A tall tale is a story about a person who is larger than life. The descriptions in the story are exaggerated – much greater ...
May 12, 1987 · John Henry was born with a hammer in his hand. He was taller and stronger than anyone around. When men started talking about laying railroad tracks across the prairies and deserts, and right through the mountains, John Henry knew he and his hammer had to be a part of it. And drive those spikes he did!
- Ezra Jack Keats
Ezra Jack Keats. Ezra Jack Keats was an American writer and illustrator of children's books. He won the 1963 Caldecott Medal for illustrating The Snowy Day, which he also wrote. Many of Ezra’s stories are about a group of friends growing up in the city. The neighborhood they live in looks like the streets where Ezra grew up in Brooklyn, New York.
By Carlene Hempel. There are two John Henrys, the actual man and the legend surrounding him. Defining the first is a matter of assembling facts. He was born a slave, worked as a laborer for the railroads after the Civil War, and died in his 30s, leaving behind a young pretty wife and a baby. Pinning down the second, the legend, is not so easy.