Thomas Jefferson: A Picture Book Biography

by James Cross Giblin, Michael Dooling (Illustrator)

Now available in paperback for the first time, James Cross Giblin and Michael Dooling relate the story of our nation's third president and author of the Declaration of Independence.

Thomas Jefferson was a soft-spoken man. But his contributions to American democracy live on as bold reminders of his formidable intellect and spirit. Son of a wealthy famer, young Thomas was a studious boy who shared his father's love of books. He was painfully shy about speaking up in school, especially when other children taunted him. By age 16, though, Thomas had entered college, and began law school two years later. He was a man of many talents. Besides practicing law, he played the violin and designed Monticello, the beautiful home where he lived with his wife and family.

Genres: Biography, History, Picture Books, Nonfiction, Childrens, American History

48 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1994

About the author

James Cross Giblin was an American children's author and editor, known for his award-winning works. He won the Golden Kite Award and the Sibert Medal for his contributions to children's literature. Giblin was born in Cleveland and raised in Painesville, Ohio. He graduated from Western Reserve University and earned a master's in playwriting from Columbia University. After a brief acting career, he entered publishing, founding Clarion Books, a children's imprint later acquired by Houghton Mifflin. At Clarion, he edited works by notable authors like Eileen Christelow and Mary Downing Hahn. Giblin’s works include The Life and Death of Adolf Hitler and Good Brother, Bad Brother.

Reviews

[Art · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good beginning history of the Life of Thomas Jefferson.
Very simple, well illustrated book.

Tonya Dugan gave me this book and I have used it in the Classroom and when tutoring.

[Luisa Knight · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good introductory biography for children as it tactfully handles some of the more risque or hypocritical issues of Jefferson's life. For example, it mentions Sally Hemings a few times, and also Maria Cosway, but doesn't bring up their alleged sexual relationships. In this way, it sets up a reasonable, foundational gateway for children to build upon when they are old enough to learn about such things.

Ages: 7 - 11

Cleanliness: Mentions that Jefferson liked to flirt and dance.

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[Iris Cardozo · Rating 3 out of 5]

This picture book is about the biography of Thomas Jefferson, it starts off when Thomas was only 3 years old. Then it explains that Thomas was a very shy boy and he did not like talking in big groups. The book also talks about how Thomas father died then he became the man of the house. Thomas loved reading books so his father left him a bookcase of forty books. This is the result that Thomas wanted to attend college, he went off and he loved it so much that his teachers were impressed. Thomas met the love of his life Martha she loved music just like he did. They had a baby girl and named her after Martha. Then the story explains how the Declaration of Independence was written and how long it took Thomas to write it.

[Hannah Dahl · Rating 3 out of 5]

Upper Primary/ Middle Grades
Biography

I wasn't overly impressed with this book. I found the story of Sally Hennings that was in the back more captivating. I think that the premise of this being a picture book biography was a good one but I was not a fan of how it was executed. I did feel like I learned about Thomas Jefferson a bit, but not so much that I was left wowed by this book. I would recommend it for a younger audience but not to a peer.

[Makenna Eash · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nonfiction Biography
Grades 1-5
I thought this book had a lot of really good information. The illustrations were very helpful in enhancing the book and the text on the page. I knew a lot of this information previously, but there were things about Thomas Jefferson and his family that I never knew! Overall, I would definitely recommend this to students looking for a biography or for more information on Thomas Jefferson.

[Cara Frazee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Grade: 2-4
Biography

This picture book biography does a good job of going through Thomas Jefferson's life and giving good detail. I like the illustrations and how his life is told through the book.

[Matthew Conley]

This book was a thorough interview of Thomas Jefferson’s life. I even learned new things about his life I never knew about. I also liked the art style of the book. I would recommend this book to upper elementary school students as a good biography to read.

[Alex Blose · Rating 3 out of 5]

The books starts out when Thomas Jefferson was a young boy living in Tuckahoe and going to school. Jefferson did not want to go there anymore, and eventually he was able to leave and go to a boarding school to study. Jefferson then goes to college in Virginia, moves to Shadwell and builds the famous Monticello, marries Martha Wayles, and has six children. The biography then goes on to tell about Jefferson's time in Virginia's House of Burgesses, how he wrote up the Declaration of Independence, as governor of Virginia, and his time as a special ambassador in Paris. Later, Jefferson becomes George Washington's secretary of state, the vice president under John Adams, and eventually in 1801 he becomes the President of the United States of America. We learn several other notorious acts that Jefferson did as President and throughout his life, until his death on July 4, 1826, the fiftieth anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.

This biography was short and easy to read, and the facts were on every single page. I liked how the pages were always colorful and had pictures on them, and the text was just over the pictures (instead of being on a plain white page with a picture on the page next to it). I felt though that there was just too much information that the reader really did not need to know, and more could have been said about the significant events in Jefferson's life. For instance, in the beginning we learn a lot about Jefferson's early schooling. I did not feel that we needed to know as much information as was told and the time spent reading this information could have been spent on more important facts about Jefferson's life.

As a future teacher, I would probably use this book in a lesson on Thomas Jefferson or the first few presidents of the United States. This would be a good book to give the students just enough background knowledge, and the pictures would keep them interested in continuing reading until the end. I say I would use this book, but only if I could not find something better. If this book was readily available and I needed to use it I definitely would, but I think I would rather use something a little bit better that had more significant information in it.

[Catherine Woodman · Rating 3 out of 5]

a grammar school bio

[Shelli]

A beautifully illustrated picture book biography about Thomas Jefferson for young readers and listeners. I enjoyed all the information about Jefferson's childhood, which is not often included in other similar reads. Also the additional quotes from Jefferson in the afterword portion gave some insight into this brilliant, layered and flawed man.