Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Unavailable
    Poet: The Remarkable Story of George Moses Horton
    Unavailable
    Poet: The Remarkable Story of George Moses Horton
    Unavailable
    Poet: The Remarkable Story of George Moses Horton
    Ebook36 pages10 minutes

    Poet: The Remarkable Story of George Moses Horton

    By Don Tate

    5/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    Award-winning author-illustrator Don Tate celebrates the first Black author in the South to be published in this first-ever picture book biography of George Moses Horton.

    Ezra Jack Keats New Writer Award winner
    Carter G. Woodson Book Award (Elementary) winner – National Council for the Social Studies

    ★ “Offers a new perspective with remarkable clarity.” ―Kirkus Reviews, STARRED REVIEW

    ★ “A lovely introduction to an inspirational American poet.” ―School Library Journal, STARRED REVIEW

    ★ “Stirring.” ―Publishers Weekly, STARRED REVIEW

    George loved words, but he was also enslaved. Forced to work long hours, he was unable to attend school or learn how to read. But he was determined―he listened to the white children’s lessons and learned the alphabet. Then he taught himself to read.

    Soon, he began composing poetry in his head and reciting it as he sold fruits and vegetables on a nearby college campus. News of the slave poet traveled quickly among the students, and before long, George had customers for his poems. But George was still enslaved. Would he ever be free?

    In this powerful biography of George Moses Horton, the first southern African-American man to be published, Don Tate tells an inspiring and moving story of talent and determination. A must for Black and American history collections. Available as an ebook.

    Awards:

    Ezra Jack Keats New Writer Award ―Ezra Jack Keats Foundation, de Grummond Children’s Literature Collection
    Carter G. Woodson Book Award (Elementary) ―National Council for the Social Studies
    Christopher Award (Books for Young People) ―Christophers
    Notable Children’s Books ―Association for Library Service to Children

    Also available from Don Tate:
    Carter Reads the Newspaper
    William Still and His Freedom Stories

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPeachtree Publishers
    Release dateSep 15, 2018
    ISBN9781682631171
    Unavailable
    Poet: The Remarkable Story of George Moses Horton
    Author

    Don Tate

    Don Tate is an award-winning author and illustrator of many books for children, including The Cart That Carried Martin by Eve Bunting, Whoosh! Lonnie Johnson's Super-Soaking Stream of Inventions by Chris Barton, and Poet: The Remarkable Story of George Moses Horton, which he also wrote. He lives in Austin, Texas. Visit him online at dontate.com and on Twitter @Devas_T.

    Related to Poet

    Related ebooks

    Children's Biography & Autobiography For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Happy & Grumpy Take a train

      May 8, 2020

      Happy & Grumpy Take a train
      1 min read

    • Article

      Are We There Yet?

      Feb 1, 2019

      Are We There Yet?
      3 min read

    • Article

      How Many Seeds in a Pumpkin?

      Jul 1, 2020

      How Many Seeds in a Pumpkin?
      3 min read

    • Article

      Let's Laugh!

      Sep 28, 2020

      Let's Laugh!
      1 min read

    • Article

      Young AT HEART

      May 15, 2020

      Young AT HEART
      6 min read

    • Article

      67 Ways To Celebrate Birds

      Apr 30, 2020

      67 Ways To Celebrate Birds
      5 min read

    • Article

      What Happened Next….

      Nov 1, 2023

      Vincent van Gogh worked as an art dealer and then became a schoolteacher before training to be a pastor and a missionary – but these jobs did not suit him! His cousin, Anton Mauve, was a successful artist, and he encouraged Vincent to start painting.

      1 min read

    • Article

      Green Tree Python

      Feb 20, 2020

      Green Tree Python
      1 min read

    • Article

      Kim and Carrots

      Nov 1, 2021

      Kim and Carrots
      1 min read

    • Article

      Hello!

      Nov 24, 2020

      Hello!
      1 min read

    • Article

      The Write-at-home Mom

      Jul 16, 2019

      The Write-at-home Mom
      7 min read

    • Article

      Kittens Next Door

      Oct 1, 2021

      Kittens Next Door
      3 min read

    • Article

      The Invention of Bubble Gum

      Apr 1, 2022

      The Invention of Bubble Gum
      2 min read

    • Article

      Yuliya’s Fawn

      Nov 1, 2019

      Yuliya’s Fawn
      4 min read

    • Article

      The Art of Poetry No. 111

      Sep 6, 2022

      The Art of Poetry No. 111
      26 min read

    • Article

      First

      Aug 16, 2017

      RIGOBERTO GONZÁLEZ is a contributing editor of Poets & Writers Magazine. WHEN I heard the news that Javier Zamora and Erika L. Sánchez, both of whose careers I’d been following, had placed their books with two of the most prestigious poetry publisher

      12 min read

    • Article

      First

      Aug 16, 2017

      RIGOBERTO GONZÁLEZ is a contributing editor of Poets & Writers Magazine. WHEN I heard the news that Javier Zamora and Erika L. Sánchez, both of whose careers I’d been following, had placed their books with two of the most prestigious poetry publisher

      12 min read

    • Article

      Making Space

      Oct 11, 2023

      IT TAKES a lifetime to write a debut book. It is the sum of all that an author has read, learned, and experienced until that moment. While working toward the completion of my debut poetry collection, Diaries of a Terrorist, I searched deep within mys

      5 min read

    • Article

      Fiction is a Power Trip: The Millions Interviews Eleanor Henderson

      Sep 25, 2017

      "I think we have to acknowledge that fiction does have that dangerous allure. Is it presumptuous? Sure. It’s a sacred enterprise, it’s the best means of empathy and understanding we have, and it’s also presumptuous." The post Fiction is a Power Trip:

      10 min read

    • Article

      Tracing Literary Lineage

      Oct 15, 2021

      first corresponded in 2016, after an essay by Shah appeared in Brevity’s special issue on race, racism, and racialization. Boyd, then coeditor of the Crux series in literary nonfiction at the University of Georgia Press, wrote to ask if Shah had a ma

      18 min read

    Reviews for Poet

    5/5

    6 ratings6 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 5/5
      Young George was determined to learn how to read, but because he was a slave, this was difficult, in fact it was against the law. He listened to the white children when they practiced their lessons, and then he found an old spelling book and taught himself how to read. As a teenager he sold fruit and vegetables grown on his farm to the students at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill to make money to live off the plantation. He recited poetry he had composed and soon students were paying him to compose love poems to their girlfriends. Then the wife of a professor, a poet herself, arranged for his poems to be published. George was soon making enough money to pay his master to let him live and write in Chapel Hill, but his master refused to let him purchase his freedom. It wasn’t until 1863 when President Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation that George was finally free. He was then 66 years old. This story is told in a lovely fashion with beautiful illustrations. So many books on slavery deal with the brutality of slavery which was a huge part, but for children this book will get a message across in a gentler way. Tate also includes a short list of references for further reading, as well as a moving author's note that provides some additional historical and personal context for Poet.

      Thanks to the author, publishers and NetGalley, too
      for letting me read an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
    • 5/5
      Picture book biography; slavery; 1800's North Carolina
    • 5/5
      Young George was determined to learn how to read, but because he and his family were enslaved it was difficult. He listened to the white children when they practiced their lessons, and then he found an old spelling book and taught himself how to read by staying up late and studying it by firelight. As a teenager he sold fruit and vegetables grown on his farm to the students at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He also recited poetry he had composed. Soon students were paying him to compose love poems to their girlfriends. Then the wife of a professor, a poet herself, arranged for his poems to be published. George was soon making enough money to pay his master to let him live and write in Chapel Hill, but his master refused to let him purchase his freedom. It wasn’t until 1863 when President Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation that George was finally free. He was then 66 years old.Tate’s gentle story and lustrous illustrations are an inspiring encouragement to literacy and the hope and freedom that it provides even in very difficult circumstances. It’s a beautiful book.
    • 5/5
      George Moses Horton was a North Carolina slave who set himself apart with his love of words and eventually taught himself to read and write. Horton then wrote his own poetry, much of which examined slavery. Though the book glosses over the darker aspects of slavery, it does not make light of it. Horton's life was dangerous, as slaves wee not allowed to learn to read. There is even mention of the creation of North Carolina law that made it illegal for anyone to teach a slave to read and and write -- driving home the point how precious and powerful literacy is.A wonderful, child-appropriate work of history that both delivers the message of the importance of reading as well as a worthy introduction to understanding slavery. An excellent biography of an important man, and the text shouldn't bog children down with too many unnecessary details. Also, the illustrations are beautifully rendered.
    • 4/5
      This is a very well written account of George Moses Horton's remarkable life. I found it to be very well written in a way that would be not only appealing but understandable to children. I am actually planning to recommend this book to my own children. Well done!
    • 5/5
      “George loved words. He wanted to learn to read, but George was enslaved.” George was, in fact, so determined that over time he learned despite obstacles and ultimately laws against teaching slaves to read. He was particularly fond of poetry and made up verses as he worked, often reciting them aloud. When university students chanced to hear him, they were not only impressed but also eager to supply George with books. When one white student requested that George pen a poem he could give his sweetheart, it became the first of many. He wrote poems to protest slavery until the Civil War broke out and it was no longer safe. George would be 66 before he was free and free to write what he wished. Both text and illustrations evoke emotions and propel the message that Tate hopes will trigger conversations with today’s youth, that “literacy is as much of an issue today as it was in Horton’s day” (unp.)