Product Details
Josephine's Dream

Josephine's Dream
By Joan Betty Stuchner

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Product Description

The fictional story of Josephine Baker's childhood, this picture book showcases the dreams and the performances of this figure of the American civil rights movement. Born poor in money but rich in talent, Josephine Baker sang, danced, crossed her eyes, knocked her knees, and made crazy, funny faces—eventually stealing the show. She discovered it was hard for a black performer to see her name in lights in America in the 1920s, so she packed her bags and went to France, where she later joined the French underground during World War II. After her return to America, she joined Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., speaking at the March on Washington—the only woman to do so. With lively illustrations, this book blends history and fiction, capturing this important figure's ambitions and dreams.

Product Details

  • Amazon Sales Rank: #1634880 in Books
  • Published on: 2008-05-01
  • Original language: English
  • Number of items: 1
  • Binding: Hardcover
  • 32 pages

Features

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal
Kindergarten-Grade 2—Josephine Baker rose from an impoverished childhood in St. Louis to become a well-known performer in 1920s Paris. Due to the mores of American culture before the Civil Rights Movement, she was forced to go abroad to realize her full artistic potential. In France, she was lauded for her talent and honored for her work in the Resistance during World War II. Stuchner's fictionalized account of Baker's life does not do justice to this complex and talented woman. For example, the text explains that she "sang, danced, crossed her eyes, knocked her knees, and made crazy funny faces." This leaves readers with a skewed idea of the performer's talent. The stylized color illustrations capture some sense of the eras Baker's career spanned but lack any kind of depth. Alan Schroeder's Ragtime Tumpie (Little, Brown, 1989) gives a better sense of Baker's childhood.—Joan Kindig, James Madison University, Harrisonburg, VA
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About the Author

Joan Betty Stuchner is a teacher at a synogogue school and a library clerk at the University of British Columbia. She is the author of A Peanut Butter Waltz, Sadie the Ballerina, and Shira's Hanukkah Gift. She lives in Vancouver. Chantelle Walther is a children's librarian who studied illustration. She lives in Provo, Utah.