Fifty Cents and a Dream

Starred review from October 22, 2012
The founder of the Tuskegee Institute is portrayed as a boy and young man who never gives up on his dream of an education. Going from illiterate slave to child worker to student, a near-penniless Washington walks an incredible 500 miles to attend school. Collier’s (Dave the Potter) sophisticated design elements will have readers revisiting his extraordinary collages. In one, a contemplative Washington sits in a clearing, as ethereal faces and hands—representing those who figuratively support him—fill the dark brown bark of the trees that literally “stand behind” him. “Booker listened/ and carried their dreams with him.” An artist’s note points out other symbolic touches (e.g., Booker’s shirt is made up of pieces of maps), while author notes and a time line flesh out the rest of Washington’s life story, including criticism that labeled him as too willing to compromise in the face of overt racism. Asim’s (Boy of Mine) lyrical narrative is succinct yet illustrative, and, combined with the artwork, makes an impressive addition to any biography collection. Ages 3–6. Agent: Joy Harris, Joy Harris Literary Agency. Illustrator’s agent: Marcia Wernick, Wernick & Pratt.

Starred review from October 15, 2012
A former slave fulfills his quest for an education and much more in this superbly designed tribute to an oft-maligned African-American educator and author. The young Washington, who learned his letters from a spelling book his mother gave to him, hears about Hampton College in Virginia, over 500 miles away. With the help of neighbors who share their precious coins, he travels, mostly on foot, from West Virginia with hunger, cold and weariness as constant companions. Asim's lyrical text transforms the journey into a spiritual awakening for a young man who had "a dream in his soul." Collier is in brilliant Caldecott Honor style, using his signature watercolor paintings and cut-paper collage to incorporate elements from Booker's life and visions into each illustration. A map route is a design on his shirt, and letters and words from the speller he cherished decorate the pages. Each tableau is beautifully composed and balanced with textured colors and patterns. The cover display type and the endpapers, which are taken from Webster's American Spelling Book, embellish this ode to book learning. Washington's was not a life filled with anger and fiery oratory. Rather, Asim and Collier laud his steadfast determination and lifelong dedication to learning. An outstanding achievement and a life worthy of note. (additional facts, author's note, illustrator's note, bibliography) (Picture book/biography. 4-8)

COPYRIGHT(2012) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Starred review from October 1, 2012

Gr 2-4-Here sits a barefooted boy leaning against a tree trunk, eyes closed, dreaming about reading. Here he is following his master's daughter to school, carrying her books, feeling their "magic seeping into his hands." Booker was born a slave, and slaves were forbidden to read. Emancipation came while he was still young. He worked with the men in his family, first shoveling salt, then in a coal mine. He learned to read from a spelling book his mother gave him. He attended the school for Negroes after work and dreamed of Hampton Institute, where he could study writing. He walked there-hundreds of miles through the mountains of Virginia, unloading ships in Richmond when his food money ran out. A janitor job at Hampton paid his room and board. Written in simply stated narrative, in a font that looks hand-printed, this story covers more of Washington's life and offers more detail than Marie Bradby's More Than Anything Else (Orchard, 1995), a brief, movingly told, beautifully rendered introduction to Washington for younger children. Collier's patterned and textured watercolor and paper collage paintings perfectly mirror the narrative, reiterating details and settings in handsomely constructed glimpses of the young Booker at school and at work; the teen-aged Booker traveling on foot toward a better education; the student dreaming of great things to come. His dreams are shown as luminescent bubbles or rays of light that reach toward the sky; his shirt is map-patterned. Two pages of biographical endnotes include a time line of his significant accomplishments. An inspirational life, memorably presented.-Susan Scheps, formerly at Shaker Public Library, OH

Copyright 2012 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 15, 2012
Grades 2-4 Booker T. Washington is often attacked for compromising with, rather than attacking, the political establishment, but in this handsome picture-book biography, the focus is on an amazing achievement in his youth, when he walked 500 miles from his West Virginia home without a single penny in his pocket to make it to school. Asim tells the story in spare free verse, beginning with Washington as a slave boy whose dream was to learn to read. Even when freedom comes, life is brutally hard: he shoveled, hauled and packed, working in a salt furnace and a coal mine. Collier's dramatic, unframed illustrations in watercolor and collage include the unforgettable image of the young Washington staring through a window at white kids in the classroom. Then there is Washington's journey; tired, hungry, and alone, he was always struggling to get to school. The climax is a close-up portrait of the adult Washington seated in a classroom with books, dreaming of sharing what his teachers have given him. Extensive back matter includes additional facts, a chronology, and a discussion about his enduring legacy.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.)

January 1, 2013
The emphasis of this brief portrait of Booker T. Washington is on his quest for knowledge: as a young boy living in slavery, wanting to learn to read, and then as a young adult attending the Hampton Institute. Watercolor and collage illustrations show the powerful determination on the subject's face, and everything about the bookmaking reverberates with the importance of books and learning. Timeline. Bib.

(Copyright 2013 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)