A Picture Book of Harriet Beecher Stowe by: David A. Adler (Non Fiction)

Harriet Beecher Stowe was born on June 14, 1811 in Connecticut.  After her mother died, Harriet left home to attend the Hartford Female Seminary.  She was very smart and talented, which led her to become a teacher at the school by the age of 16.  In 1872 Harriet and her family moved to Ohio, where it was free of slavery.  However, kentucky, which is right across the river from Ohio, was not free of slavery.  Harriet constantly read newspaper articles about the slavery going on and advertisements posted for runaway slaves with a reward promised for their return.  She continued to put her writing skills to work and wrote geography textbooks, stories, and articles for newspapers and magazines.  In 1844, Harriet began to write her most amazing work, Uncle Tom's Cabin.  It was about Tom who was a slave that was mistreated by his owner, Simon Legree.  Her book showed everyone the horrors of slavery and was one of the main causes of the Civil War.

This book is a great way to introduce who Harriet Beecher Stowe is and how she affected the American people.  I think it would be a good idea to also teach more about Uncle Tom's Cabin after reading this biography of Stowe.  I would have the students make a bubble map titled: The Life of Harriet Beecher Stowe.  They would fill in the bubble map with facts about Stowe and how she affected the American people.