Thomas Jefferson: A Picture Book Biography

This is another book about one of our presidents and explains some of the important things he has done in his life. This is an excellent book for students to use in writing a biography. This allows the student to get all the information about Thomas Jefferson and still enjoy reading it with the fun pictures. ( )

Retelling: Thomas Jefferson's grew up with the children of William Randolph. Thomas' father had promised Mr. Randolph that he would look after his children if something were to happen to him. Throughout his childhood, Thomas' favorite pass-time was reading and writing. He also enjoyed music. He went to college at William and Mary and began to practice law when the Boston Tea Party created a rift between the colonies and Great Britain.

Among Jefferson's accomplishments were: Writing of the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom, and the Declaration of Independence, and founded the University of Virginia. His debts forced him to sell his library which became the first copies in the Library of Congress. Jefferson also questioned slavery and came up with the idea of public education and public libraries.

Thoughts and Feelings: I prefer it when biographies remind us that our heroes are capable of error and struggled with the same temptations and inadequacies as the rest of the human race. This book continually mentions the name "Sally Hemmings" but never says why. Jefferson had over sixty slaves at Monticello. Why follow Hemmings?

I particularly enjoyed reading excerpts from Jefferson's letters at the back of the book. It's nice to hear from the man himself.

content summary: Thomas Jefferson, Declaration of Independence, founding fathers, American Revolution, Monticello, politics, slavery

This biography includes the major events in the life of Thomas Jefferson, portraying him as a reserved and shy man. It explains that Jefferson was the author of the Declaration of Independence and the third United States President. It also shows his candor on issues such as slavery.

I really enjoyed this biography and the oil paintings. I think that students will be wanting more after reading through this book.

For this book, I would have students make a timeline of Thomas Jefferson's life based on what information the book gave us. I would encourage them to draw pictures on the timeline to make it more presentable. ( )