Anderson, William (2003). River boy: the story of Mark Twain. Harper Collins. New York.
Summary:
River Boy is a very simple story about the life of Mark Twain. Anderson begins at the time of Mark Twain's birth and traverses through his life with stories of mischief and dreams. Mark Twain followed his dreams and through his adventures he decided to write about them. People found his stories so amusing that he actually went on tour just telling his stories to peole that came to listen. This is a definite read for any Mark Twain fan. It's a fascinating story that ends on the day of his death and with a phenomenon that is rare. Even more strange is this phenomenon also occurred on the day of his birth as well.
Author: William Anderson
Illustrator: Dan Andreasen
Illustrations: Illustrations appear to be acrylic and usually take up one full side of a two-page spread. Sometimes the illustrations are on the top or bottom of the pages and the text is on the opposite. Illustrations are representative of some aspect of the text it is associated with.
Access Features: Time Line of Mark Twain
Grade Level: 1-3
Book Design: Book is a tall rectangle with words on the cover representative of old poster lettering. Cover has an illustration of a little boy fishing with the pole going into the book like an invitations to open the book and see what's on the the end of the line. End pages are an illustration of a riverboat floating down the river. Pages are white with a little bit of writing.
Writing Style: Very child friendly language. The author uses figurative language but not too complex for younger children to understand. This is enumerative text or a chronological telling of the events of Mark Twain's life from birth to death.
Curriculum: Social Studies
Classroom Use: Author's History Study; Geography of Mississippi River and surrounding areas
Standards: Social Studies Standard 3: People, Places, and Environments
Awards: Notable Social Studies Trade Book 2004
Author Credibility: Anderson is a teacher and has written many books about history. He visited Mark Twain's homesites while preparing for this book but gives no sources for his writing.
Related Texts: Mark Twain for Kids: His Life & Times, 21 Activities (For Kids series) by R. Kent Rasmussen; Who Was Mark Twain?: (Who Was...?) by April Jones Prince; First to Fly: How Wilbur and Orville Wright Invented the Airplane by Peter Busby; American Boy: The Adventures of Mark Twain by Don Brown; Sequoyah: The Cherokee Man Who Gave His People Writing (Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Honor (Awards) by James Rumford; If I Only Had a Horn: Young Louis Armstrong by Roxane Orgill; Odd Boy Out: Young Albert Einstein (Bccb Blue Ribbon Nonfiction Book Award (Awards) by Don Brown; The Librarian of Basra: A True Story from Iraq by Jeanette Winter
Response:
Reading this book was like an adventure all on it's own. I learned a lot about Mark Twain that I never knew. He really was a very eccentric person and found adventure wherever he went. It was fascinating to learn about the way he became a writer and how the fame just seemed to fall on him.
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2 comments:
It is very interesting to read books about authors. I have read books by Mark Twain and wondered why he never used his real name. Does this book mention why he doesn't use his real name? This is a book that I definitely have to read!
I am a Mark Twain fan, and I know I would enjoy this. I happen to know what the phenomenon was that occured at his birth and death. It was a comet. I can't remember if it was Haley's comet or not.
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