Uncle Jed's Barbershop

Uncle Jed's Barbershop    

A Coretta Scott King Honor Book

Margaree Kim Mitchell

Sarah Jean loves to spend time with her Uncle Jed. He tells her about his dream to one day open up a barbershop. He describes exactly how it will look and she can envision the four chairs and the shiny equipment. In the meantime, Uncle Jed goes around the region giving haircuts to all the neighbors. It is the 1920's in the segregated South and he knows that most of his sharecropping friends cannot afford to pay him in cash. But he patiently saves his money and when he finally gathers up enough, Sarah Jean needs emergency surgery. He steps right in and pays for it. Then, he simply starts saving again. This time when he has nearly enough money, he loses all of his savings in the economic crash of the Great Depression. Nevertheless, Uncle Jed overcomes all odds and opens up his barbershop at the age of 79.

This has been a favorite of first grade teachers at Birchwood School. I originally found out about this book from first grade teacher Theresa Tropp (who stroked it when she took it off the shelf and shared it with me), and first grade teacher Rhonda Sprau says she almost cries every time she reads it aloud. Used with a series of readings on the themes of setting goals and perseverance, Rhonda includes an array of titles. The following selections serve as a good illustration of how a teacher or parent can cluster books to instill a particular virtue.

Having dreams and goals: Paired with Uncle Jed's Barbershop is A Chair for my Mother. (Blog post March 15, 2012)

Perseverance to achieve dreams: The story of Louisa May Alcott from The Book of Home and Family by William Bennett provides a classic example. Louisa was not discouraged when an editor told her women could not make it in the world of publishing their writing. She didn't listen to him: good for her and good for us! The picture book autobiography, Winners Never Quit by Mia Hamm illustrates the hard work and determination of this great women's soccer player. And the excerpt from The Book of Heroes by William Bennett on the perseverance of both Helen Keller and her teacher Anne Sullivan is one more powerful real life story.

Quotes and rhymes: Teachers help children memorize pithy sayings that help inculcate the lessons.These resonant easily with young children who all love rhythm, rhyme, and music. Our first graders hear The Little Engine that Could (blog post - March 4, 2012) at the beginning of the year. This way they can often say "I think I can, I think I can!" - with the image of the little blue engine chugging up the hill. And from The Children's Book of Virtue by William Bennett, Rhonda has them memorize the poem which includes the line "If at first you don't succeed - try, try again!"  

In the next post I'll highlight some good anthologies that contain quality literary selections such as the Bennett books provide.