Who Was Harriet Beecher Stowe?

Who Was . . . ? Series

by Dana Meachen Rau, Who HQ, Gregory Copeland (Illustrator)

Born in Connecticut in 1811, Harriet Beecher Stowe was an abolitionist, author, and playwright. Slavery was a major industry in the American South, and Stowe worked with the Underground Railroad to help escaped slaves head north towards freedom.

The publication of her book, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, a scathing anti-slavery novel, fanned the flames that started the Civil War. The book’s emotional portrayal of the impact of slavery captured the nation’s attention.

A best-seller in its time, Uncle Tom’s Cabin sealed Harriet Beecher Stowe’s reputations as one of the most influential anti-slavery voices in US history.

Genres: Biography, Nonfiction, History, Childrens, Historical, Audiobook, Civil War

112 pages, Paperback

First published April 14, 2015

About the author

Dana Meachen Rau is an author, editor, and illustrator of children's books. She has written more than 100 books for children, many of them nonfiction in subjects including astronomy, history, and geography, as well as numerous biographies. She lives in Burlington, Connecticut, with her husband and two children.

Reviews

[Felipe Alfaro]

What an amazing impact one woman and one book can have!! I have always dreamed of becoming a writer, and Harriet Beecher Stowe, along with Anne Frank and Helen Keller, is one of my chief inspirations to do so.
Each and every one of us has the power to change the world. This may be the age of the “keyboard warrior”, but don’t think your message is meaningless.
If one woman living in the mid-19th century could mobilize a nation against a horrible injustice, certainly a YouTuber, Facebook Live user, photographer or “keyboard warrior” can change the world today. We’ve seen it happen already multiple times in recent years.
Be like Stowe. If you have something to say, say it! Don’t let the mass of naysayers silence you!! No authority on Earth can legitimately dismiss what you have to say if you really have the evidence, the logical reasoning and the conviction to demonstrate it. Just makes sure to do your research first.

[Jaymie]

❤️

[David]

Who Was Harriet Beecher Stowe by Dana Meacham Rau provides a great overview of her life and her most well known book, Uncle Tom’s Cabin. I have read her book and, while it is still controversial today for different reasons, it was considered shocking when it was first published. She was an active abolitionist and many credit her book with heightening the emotions and focusing the attention on the evils of slavery; it may have also contributed to bringing about the start of the American Civil War. She was a staunch supporter of many other causes including those intended to improve women’s lives.

[Kai]

I am 12 years old and I found this book to be more of a third grade read than a 6th grade, but I learned about a person in history who wrote a good book. I wish the book was more about her life as an adult instead of her childhood, but I still learned some new things about her (probably because before I hadn't known anything about her in the first place). I would recommend this read to 2nd-4th grade students and I'm in 6th grade. Even though it felt like it was at a younger level, it helped me learn more about the Civil Rights Movement. So if you're a teacher, I would recommend you to have your student read this book.

[Rachel]

I love this series, it does such a good job!

I had no idea that Harriet wrote Uncle Tom's Cabin as kind of a peace offering to the South. The kind owners were southerners; the brutal murderous Legree was a Northerner. She originally published it in serial form and a lot of the incidents were based on things that actually happened.

Her book was a hit in the western world, especially in England, where slavery had been illegalized in the 1830s.

Anyway: interesting read and gulped down in about 60 minutes.

[Yvonne]

Harriet was an interesting woman and so lucky that during her childhood she was treated the same as her brothers and allowed to do and dream big things. I love that she went to her sister's school for a year and then was a teacher there. What an interesting time that must have been to teach students so close in age to her. She also seems to have had a wonderful home life as an adult. I didn't know that she wrote a second abolitionist novel after Uncle Tom's Cabin. An inspirational woman.

[Victoria B.]

Another solid biography in the Who Was series, this book tells about the life of author Harriet Beecher Stowe, famous for Uncle Tom's Cabin (and more). The numerous included illustrations facilitate the story (however, it does seem that this book contains more illustrations than the average Who Was book, possibly due to lack of content about the subject).

A good read for 3rd-6th graders.

[David Rough]

I enjoyed this concise biography of Harriet Beecher Stowe. It is written for young readers, but I found it meet my inquiries concerning this influential author. This read has motivated me to read Uncle Tom's Cabin, a classic work of fiction that I missed (probably avoided because I was not a reader growing up) in my early education.

[Hailey Vittrup]

This book shows the boldness that Harriet Beecher Stowe had- in her beliefs and in her efforts to end slavery. This is a well-written book that paints her impact in a positive light. The earlier part of the book is a little harsh when it comes to peoples’ faith, but the book ultimately shows that Harriet’s faith in God was strong. Her life was not easy, but it was a life well lived.

[Angelica]

Genre: Biography/ Historical Nonfiction

Copyright Date: 2015

A wonderful biography on the life of Harriet Beecher Stowe. Students can use these books in history class to learn about influential and inspirational people. Grades 3-8

[Dan]

The woman who started a war with her book was very active all of her life in trying to end slavery in America. This book shows how she progressed from a little girl reading whatever she could in her father's library to a busy writer through the end of her life.

[Nadia L. Hohn]

I always wanted to know more about Harriet Beecher Stowe other than she wrote “Uncle Tom’s Cabin”. This book gave me the information I sought. I learned more about the impact her book and work had on the abolitionist movement as well as her private life.

[Goddess of Chaos]

"Her words helped inspire people to change. Her story helped bring an end to slavery..."

This book does a nice job of exploring the life of Harriet Beecher Stowe, and providing context for her writing, most notably Uncle Tom's Cabin.

[Megan]

We read this book as part of school assignments. It was informative but I think reading Uncle Tom's Cabin would have been more informative. Obviously this was more a biography than on the topic of slavery.

[Rowan]

I loved that she wanted to end slavery just like me, and she loved books, just like me!

[Miss Sarah]

A biography of Harriet Beecher Stowe an influential writer in the anti slavery movement. a woman ahead of her time. elementary and up

[A]

I didn't know much about Harriet except that she wrote Uncle Tom's cabin. I learned so much more. Nice to read a story about a strong woman.

[April]

A fun addition to having the kids read Uncle Tom's Cabin during the Civil War chapters in history.

[Denise]

Good overview for middle school readers.

[Karthika]

Short and quick biography. Awesome illustrations

[Janet]

Another great story. I really didn't realize what a great woman this lady was.

[Charlie N.]

I love this woman!

[Sarah]

Solid primer for Uncle Tom's Cabin background.

[Evie]

this book really told me about the cival war.

[Colin]

A clear and superbly written book. Everyone needs to give this a read.

[Charlotte🫶]

Doing a research project on her for school so I had to read this😅

[Cori Cooper]

So fascinating!

[M]

Great book.

[Reving]

http://revingsblog.blogspot.com/2018/...

[Carley Trumbower]

Informational, historical, published in 2014
This is a great approachable novel for students to read and I’m so happy to see this amazing woman being talked about because her story is often glossed over in social studies classes. This would be a great book to assign for reading groups and to have kids discuss the affect Harriet had on society and how we still she the affects of her hard efforts today!