Through the Looking Glass Children's Book Reviews
Mark Twain at Work!
Illustrator: Frank Habbas
Nonfiction
For ages 5 to 7
Simon and Schuster, 2003 ISBN: 978-0689853999
Mark Twain was born in Missouri and his real name was Samuel Clemens. As a boy, he could never keep still and was often getting into trouble because he loved to have adventures and to play tricks on people. Getting into scrapes very often meant being punished and Sam often had to do unpleasant chores because he did something which displeased his mother. It was when he had to do one particular chore, painting a wooden fence white, that Sam came up with an idea which what would later become a world famous story. Sam managed to convince his friends that painting the fence was fun and that he was the lucky one because he had to do it. In time they were the ones doing the painting and Sam was the one sitting at his ease and watching them work.
When he was grown up Sam took this story and others from his childhood and turned them into tales which would make his famous the world over.
Presented in simple and yet entertaining language, this little book is a wonderful early reader biography which will certainly excite in its readers the wish to further explore the world of Mark Twain.
This is one of the excellent books in the Ready-to-Read Childhood of Famous Americans series.
