John Henry - Hardcover

Julius Lester is a celebrated author whose accolades include a Newbery Honor and a Coretta Scott King Award. He is also a National Book Award Finalist, a National Book Critics Circle nominee, and a recipient of the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award. In addition to his critically acclaimed writing career, Mr. Lester has distinguished himself as a civil rights activist, musician, photographer, radio talk-show host, and professor. For thirty-two years he taught at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. He lives in western Massachusetts.

Jerry Pinkney is one of America's most admired children's book illustrators. He has won the Caldecott Medal and five Caldecott Honors, five Coretta Scott King Awards, five New York Times Ten Best Illustrated Awards, the Coretta Scott King-Virginia Hamilton Award for Lifetime Achievement, the Laura Ingalls Wilder Award, and the Society of Illustrators' Original Art Show Lifetime Achievement Award, and many other prizes and honors. Recently a member of the National Council of the Arts and inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, he has also served on the U.S. Postal Service Citizen’s Stamp Advisory Committee. His artwork has been exhibited in galleries and museums throughout the country, including the Art Institute of Chicago, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Schomburg Center, and the Norman Rockwell Museum. Jerry Pinkney lives with his wife, author Gloria Jean Pinkney, in Westchester County, New York.

With talented readers, original musical and realistic sound effects, Weston Woods Studios elevates the read-along to a new height. This studio production of a celebrated and award-winning children's favorite, packaged with a hardcover book, will enchant listeners and create new audiences. Samuel L. Jackson's down-home reading of Julius Lester's 1995 Caldecott Honor Book, JOHN HENRY, is energetic and inviting. String-plucked blues accompany the tall tale of the African-American hero who proved his worth against a machine. Jackson's vigorous narration, including the booming voice of the Almighty Himself, combines with plentiful, authentic sound effects to introduce a celebrated American hero. T.B. (c) AudioFile, Portland, Maine