In Focus: Jefferson

This children's book tells the story of Jefferson's life through his love of books and reading.  It includes quotes from Jefferson about books and other fun facts in sidebars throughout.  It has a particular focus on libraries, describing how Jefferson arranged his personal library by subject and how when the Library of Congress burned, his personal collection became the country's new library.  
Thomas Jefferson Builds a Library by Barb Rosenstock, illustrated by John O'Brien

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This story of a classroom garden, inspired by the one at Monticello focuses on a friendly contest and experimenting with different gardening techniques to get the first peas on the table.  
First Peas to the Table by Susan Grigsby, illustrated by Nicole Tadgell

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These three books describe Jefferson's relationship with the enslaved Sally Hemings and the children they had together.  The Hemingses of Monticello by Annette Gordon-Reed is aimed at adult audiences while Jefferson's Children by Shannon Lanier and Jane Feldman is aimed at a middle school audience.  Jefferson's Sons by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley is a historical fiction novel for middle grades told from the perspective of three enslaved persons at Monticello including two of Jefferson's sons.  

Natasha Trethwey has also explored this relationship and its repercussions in poems such as "Enlightenment"

In the portrait of Jefferson that hangs
        at Monticello, he is rendered two-toned:
his forehead white with illumination --

a lit bulb — the rest of his face in shadow,
        darkened as if the artist meant to contrast
his bright knowledge, its dark subtext.

By 1805, when Jefferson sat for the portrait,
        he was already linked to an affair
with his slave. Against a backdrop, blue

and ethereal, a wash of paint that seems
        to hold him in relief, Jefferson gazes out
across the centuries, his lips fixed as if

he's just uttered some final word. 
(read the rest of the poem over at the poetry foundation:  http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/249398)

This beautifully illustrated picture book biography describes Thomas Jefferson's incredible accomplishments and contributions to American society without glossing over the hypocrisies and failures in his life.  It presents everything in a language accessible to students as young as first grade.    
Thomas Jefferson: Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Everything by Maira Kalman

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Additional biographical details and related links and articles can be found on Gale's Biography in Context database that we subscribe to.  E-mail [email protected] or stop by the library if you need the password to access it.  

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