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mlejmeyer's review
4.0
Maybe a 3.5...the poetry read awkwardly in spots, but the illustrations are wonderful (love Floyd Cooper) and the emotional impact of the words combined with the sepia tones pictures is powerful.
mellenwood's review
3.0
Genre: Historical Fiction
Grade Level: 3-5
This is a great story. It tells of how men bought their freedom by working hard. I think it can be used as a great teaching tool. There is also some rhythm which makes it interesting for students to read and enjoy.
Grade Level: 3-5
This is a great story. It tells of how men bought their freedom by working hard. I think it can be used as a great teaching tool. There is also some rhythm which makes it interesting for students to read and enjoy.
abigailbat's review
3.0
In almost-rhyming verse, Charles R. Smith Jr. presents the slaves who built the White House. I think the rhythmic verse does a lot to evoke the feelings that Smith is probably going for. He emphasizes how much back-breaking work it was to build the White House, that the slaves didn't get paid but their masters did, and how working on the White House increased some slaves' skills so that they might one day earn money to buy their freedom.
Accompanying illustrations are washed out, almost hazy, which was a good fit, I think. It's like you're remembering something painful (which we are), so you keep it a little bit hazy to ease the hurt. These are no happy working slaves, either. The paintings, while not graphic, definitely show how hard the slaves were working.
The text begs to be read aloud and this would make a good classroom readaloud for units on slavery, but I don't think it has enough actual information to be a great standalone nonfiction text. An author's note gives some more information about why slaves were used to build the White House and what their conditions were like. Selected sources are cited.
Accompanying illustrations are washed out, almost hazy, which was a good fit, I think. It's like you're remembering something painful (which we are), so you keep it a little bit hazy to ease the hurt. These are no happy working slaves, either. The paintings, while not graphic, definitely show how hard the slaves were working.
The text begs to be read aloud and this would make a good classroom readaloud for units on slavery, but I don't think it has enough actual information to be a great standalone nonfiction text. An author's note gives some more information about why slaves were used to build the White House and what their conditions were like. Selected sources are cited.
libraryrobin's review
3.0
The cadence of the text is excellent. A powerful story told in simple terms.
azajacks's review
4.0
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backonthealex's review
4.0
We see pictures of the White House everyday in newspapers, magazines, on televison. We use it as a metonym when we say the White House meaning the president and/or his staff. But how often do we think about how or by whom the White House was built.
Brick by Brick is about the first White House that was built for the new president of the United States, George Washington, back in 1792. It was a big job and required a lot of workers. Local workers were hired as well as free blacks, but when that wasn't enough, slaves were used:
Black hands,
white hands,
free hands,
slave hands.
But while everyone else was paid for their labor, slaves were hired out by their masters who collected their pay and kept it for themselves:
Slave hands saw
twelve hours a day,
but slave owners take
slave hand's pay.
But as new skills are learned, some slaves were able to receive pay and to save to buy their freedom:
Slave hand build
and slave hands save
shillings to be free
and no longer a slave.
The story of the slave labor in Brick by Brick is written in sparse verse, with four lines to a stanza, repetitiously using the word slave yet it paints am incredibly vivid picture of the blood, sweat and hard work that these men and boys were forced to do by their masters. What makes this such an outstanding book is that Smith uses the names of real slaves he discovered while doing the research for Brick by Brick. In this way, he humanizes them for us, turns them into real people rather than allowing them to remain a nameless, faceless, anonymous people, easy to overlook, easy to hurt and easy forget about.
And just as Smith's words give the slaves an identity, the illustrations give them a face, making the job all the more real and the workers all the more human for the reader. The illustrations were done by Floyd Cooper, one of my favorite illustraters. Cooper's oil wash paintings, done in earth tones, makes us feel the hot sun burning down on the workers, the sweat running down their bodies, the pain in their arms and legs, the blisters and aching back and muscles that must have plagued these men and boys day in and day out.
Brick by Brick is a poignant narrative that should be read aloud to appreciate its full impact and meaning. It is a book that should not be missed by anyone interested in American history and/or African American history. Be sure to read the author's note at the back of the book that explains why slaves were used to build the White House.
This book is recommended for readers age 4+
This book was borrowed from the NYPL
This review was originally posted at Randomly Reading
Brick by Brick is about the first White House that was built for the new president of the United States, George Washington, back in 1792. It was a big job and required a lot of workers. Local workers were hired as well as free blacks, but when that wasn't enough, slaves were used:
Black hands,
white hands,
free hands,
slave hands.
But while everyone else was paid for their labor, slaves were hired out by their masters who collected their pay and kept it for themselves:
Slave hands saw
twelve hours a day,
but slave owners take
slave hand's pay.
But as new skills are learned, some slaves were able to receive pay and to save to buy their freedom:
Slave hand build
and slave hands save
shillings to be free
and no longer a slave.
The story of the slave labor in Brick by Brick is written in sparse verse, with four lines to a stanza, repetitiously using the word slave yet it paints am incredibly vivid picture of the blood, sweat and hard work that these men and boys were forced to do by their masters. What makes this such an outstanding book is that Smith uses the names of real slaves he discovered while doing the research for Brick by Brick. In this way, he humanizes them for us, turns them into real people rather than allowing them to remain a nameless, faceless, anonymous people, easy to overlook, easy to hurt and easy forget about.
And just as Smith's words give the slaves an identity, the illustrations give them a face, making the job all the more real and the workers all the more human for the reader. The illustrations were done by Floyd Cooper, one of my favorite illustraters. Cooper's oil wash paintings, done in earth tones, makes us feel the hot sun burning down on the workers, the sweat running down their bodies, the pain in their arms and legs, the blisters and aching back and muscles that must have plagued these men and boys day in and day out.
Brick by Brick is a poignant narrative that should be read aloud to appreciate its full impact and meaning. It is a book that should not be missed by anyone interested in American history and/or African American history. Be sure to read the author's note at the back of the book that explains why slaves were used to build the White House.
This book is recommended for readers age 4+
This book was borrowed from the NYPL
This review was originally posted at Randomly Reading
pinkrain718's review
4.0
This picture book tells the story of how enslaved people built our White House. This critical part of history is often left untold and this book makes it easy to include this information in an elementary classroom. I plan to use this picture book with my 8th graders to connect to our study of Rome and how much of Rome was built by enslaved people as well.
bookishrealm's review
4.0
I had no idea that slave labor was utilized in the making and building of the white house. It's so interesting to read about how much slaves contributed to our nations capitol. I didn't really care for the poetry element, but I did like how the author focused on using the term "hand" in two different ways. One way being the physical body part and the other focusing on another name for those contributing to the labor needed to complete the project.