With Books and Bricks: How Booker T. Washington Built a School

By Suzanne Slade and Nicole Tadgell

2016-2017 Young Hoosier Book Award Intermediate Nominee

Booker T. Washington had an incredible passion for learning. Born a slave, he taught himself to read. When the Civil War ended, Booker finally fulfilled his dream of attending school. After graduation, he was invited to teach in Tuskegee, Alabama. Finding many eager students but no school, Booker set out to build his own school—brick by brick. An afterword gives detailed information on how the school was built.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Albert Whitman & Company
• Release date: Sep 1, 2014
• ISBN: 9780807508985

Suzanne Slade

Suzanne Buckingham Slade is the award-winning author of 100 books for children. A Mechanical Engineer by degree, Ms. Slade began her writing career twenty years ago. She lives near Chicago with her husband and two children.

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Reviews for With Books and Bricks

[elizabethhaaser · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

"With Books and Bricks: How Booker T. Washington Built a School” by Suzanne Slade is a wonderful biography that I enjoyed for three big reasons. First, I liked the fact that the author wrote about his life from when he was young and in slavery, through working in the salt mine, going to school for the first time, and all the way through building his own school. This helps the reader feel attached and connected to Washington. It is amazing to see where he started and where he ends up by the end of the story. I also liked that the author included a quotation by Washington at the end: “Success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life, as by the obstacles which he has overcome while trying to succeed.” Additionally, Slade included a section in the back that features more information about Washington. These extra features help make the book that much more educational, and really gives a fuller picture for who this great man was. Finally, the illustrations by Nicole Tadgell help bring this history to the present with rich watercolor pictures that both cover the entire page, and at other times are featured in smaller frames around the page. The calming colors and faded edges make this story seem dream-like. It’s truly a beautiful book. I think the main message is that, like Washington said in his quotation, it doesn’t matter so much where you end up in life, but how you got there. For Washington, just learning to read was a huge accomplishment, due to where he started and his beginning circumstances. All that is important is that you work hard and face obstacles bravely; that makes you successful.