Henry Climbs a Mountain

by D. B. Johnson, D. B. Johnson (Illustrator)

Overview

Henry wants to climb a mountain, and nothing is going to stop him. Then Sam, the tax collector, puts him in jail for not paying his taxes. Henry refuses to pay to a state that allows slavery. But being locked up doesn’t stop Henry. He still gets to splash in rivers, swing from trees, and meet a stranger. This bear, modeled on the real Henry David Thoreau, roams free.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780618269020
Publisher:	HarperCollins Publishers
Publication date:	09/22/2003
Series:	A Henry Book Series
Pages:	32
Product dimensions:	10.75(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.37(d)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

D. B. Johnson has been a freelance illustrator for more than twenty years and has done editorial cartoons, comic strips, and conceptual illustrations for magazines and newspapers around the country. Mr. Johnson’s first picture book, Henry Hikes to Fitchburg, was a New York Times bestseller and a Publishers Weekly bestseller, as well as an American Bookseller “Pick of the Lists.” Henry Hikes to Fitchburg also won numerous awards, including the Boston Globe–Horn Book Award for Picture Books and the Ezra Jack Keats New Writer Award. Mr. Johnson and his wife, Linda, live in New Hampshire.

Editorial Reviews

In his third book about Henry David Thoreau, Johnson describes a more complex concept: how people can change bad laws without fighting. Henry is given the choice of paying his taxes or going to jail. Henry refuses: "Pay a state that lets farmers own slaves? Never!" Henry is incarcerated, and after spending the night in jail, he’s freed, his taxes paid, presumably by someone Henry has befriended. Freedom to Henry "feels like being on top of a very tall mountain!" Johnson’s familiar style of faceted forms, built of angular shapes and warm, natural colors, including multiple perspectives create a visually dynamic story. The bird’s-eye views of Henry in his cell are particularly effective. Johnson in his endnote, writes that Thoreau assisted slaves in fleeing to Canada, and that both Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr. were inspired by Thoreau’s writings. Young readers may not understand concepts of tax protest and slavery, but would welcome reading another story about a familiar and unique character whose deep moral convictions are expressed in simple, daily deeds. (Picture book. 6-9)

Kirkus Reviews