How fitting that the man who preached self-reliance would feel most at home in his own house. The team behind Those Rebels, John and Tom once again introduces young readers to a figure who helped shape American thought: Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882).
On the endpapers, quotes from the poet and essayist encourage both an inner life ("Insist on yourself; never imitate") and a life looking beyond oneself ("Love the day. Do not leave the sky out of your landscape"). Mr. Emerson greets readers at the front door of his house, inviting them in. Next, he stands at the window of his study, his children and wife nearby, looking out at the town he held dear: "More than anywhere else, Ralph Waldo Emerson loved his home in Concord, Massachusetts." Though the audience may not be familiar with the man at the forefront of the Transcendentalist movement, they will relate to his dedication to doing the things he adored. In college, he enjoyed reading and writing and wondered, "Could he build a life around these things he loved?"
Kerley and Fotheringham emphasize Emerson's internal journey and its outward manifestation: "Every spirit builds itself a house, and beyond its house a world.... Build therefore your own world." He read, wrote and lectured, and also served as volunteer fireman, and, in an especially humorous depiction, was appointed "hog reeve, rounding up wayward hogs." His dedication to his community is repaid tenfold during a house fire, when his neighbors rescue books, journals and other valuables. Copious endnotes provide opportunities for further research. --Jennifer M. Brown, children's editor, Shelf Awareness