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mx_sunshine 's review for:
The Oldest Student: How Mary Walker Learned to Read
by Rita Lorraine Hubbard
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
A moving story about Mary Walker, a woman who learned to read at 116 years old. I really respect Rita Lorraine Hubbard for writing it.
I was surprised to learn that Hubbard had very few facts to go off. This story is full of natural moments that I believed had happened. Like when 8 year old Mary reflects on the freedom of birds. Or when adult Mary holds her closed bible to her chest around others who read their bibles. These details also broke down larger ideas of slavery and illiteracy into relatable notions of longing and isolation. So impressive.
And I LOVED all of the collages made by Oge Mora. Every page really worked. I love the spread showing all of the people journeying the “Freedom Road.” So many beautiful compositions. Speech as curving flags, encircling backgrounds. I loved how pieces with text formed external things when Mary couldn’t read. And later these text pieces formed parts of her clothing.
The page showing Mary grieving her deceased family really hit me. She sits while her family stands. She is in full colour while her family is collaged from blues.
My favourite page is of Mary studying into the night and falling asleep at her desk. The writing is so good and specific about Mary studying not only the alphabet but the sound each letter made. That choice to emphasise what goes into learning a written language made me pause to reflect. A fantastic example of writing working with illustrations. Love the illustrated detail of Mary rewriting her name multiple times. It took me back to being 5 years old and learning to write my first name.
I got a lot out of this short book and am keen to read Hubbard’s next!
“You’re never too old to learn.”
I was surprised to learn that Hubbard had very few facts to go off. This story is full of natural moments that I believed had happened. Like when 8 year old Mary reflects on the freedom of birds. Or when adult Mary holds her closed bible to her chest around others who read their bibles. These details also broke down larger ideas of slavery and illiteracy into relatable notions of longing and isolation. So impressive.
And I LOVED all of the collages made by Oge Mora. Every page really worked. I love the spread showing all of the people journeying the “Freedom Road.” So many beautiful compositions. Speech as curving flags, encircling backgrounds. I loved how pieces with text formed external things when Mary couldn’t read. And later these text pieces formed parts of her clothing.
The page showing Mary grieving her deceased family really hit me. She sits while her family stands. She is in full colour while her family is collaged from blues.
My favourite page is of Mary studying into the night and falling asleep at her desk. The writing is so good and specific about Mary studying not only the alphabet but the sound each letter made. That choice to emphasise what goes into learning a written language made me pause to reflect. A fantastic example of writing working with illustrations. Love the illustrated detail of Mary rewriting her name multiple times. It took me back to being 5 years old and learning to write my first name.
I got a lot out of this short book and am keen to read Hubbard’s next!
“You’re never too old to learn.”