Amazing Cherokee Writer Sequoyah

Children's Literature - Danielle Williams

The importance of Sequoyah's work is boiled down to a few talking points in this very brief biography of the famous Cherokee. Sequoyah's work revolutionized the Cherokee nation and played a pivotal role in the move to Indian Territory in the 1830s, an event which is only mentioned briefly in the text and could have been left out of the text entirely since the author focused most of the rest of the text on the development of the Cherokee alphabet. The facts of Sequoyah's life are strung together and read like a child's first attempt at writing a term paper on Sequoyah's life and offer little more than the most basic of facts on Sequoyah. The only redeeming quality of this short text is the inclusion of illustrations of Sequoyah and photo reproductions of Sequoyah's birthplace and cabin in Indian Territory. The text is part of the "Amazing Americans" series. Reviewer: Danielle Williams

School Library Journal

Gr 1–2—Is it possible to condense the life of any person into approximately 40 sentences? That is what Wade attempts to do in these early-reader biographies. The language is simple, both in sentence structure and vocabulary. With this kind of brevity, oversimplification is inescapable. For example, in Rachel Carson, Wade states that Carson wrote about the environment and that, "No one had ever written about this before." Of course, people like John Muir were writing about it years before Carson. Despite this problem, Wade does a decent job of introducing the salient points of these subjects' lives. Each book has elements of a standard report biography: thought questions, a time line, glossary, further reading, and an index. Though some of these features seem ludicrous for such short books, they allow young students to become familiar with common study aides. Photographs and historical paintings are set against starburst- patterned backgrounds. The bright backgrounds are a little distracting but add color and continuity. Comparable in content and more colorful than "Rookie Biographies" (Children's Press), these are fair nonfiction choices to have in a primary-grade reading corner or to use with slightly older ESL students.—Donna Cardon, Provo City Library, UT