Growing up poor on a Mississippi pig farm, Oprah Winfrey didn't have much but she did have a religious grandmother who spent time reading her the Bible and teaching her arithmetic and writing. By speaking at church, Oprah realized she was a gifted speaker and knew she had more to offer the world than being a housewife. This kickstarted her dream to become "paid to talk" and would lead to her becoming the beloved talk show host we know today. I think this book provides an interesting perspective on Oprah's early life, putting an emphasis on how religion impacted her. However, I feel it can get repetitive at some parts and I found myself getting bored reading it. I'm also not a very religious person so I didn't find myself relating to the story, although I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing. Overall, it was decent. ( )

It is a book about Oprah Winfrey's childhood. Oprah wanted to be paid to talk when she grew up, and she ended up fulfilling her dream by hosting a talk show and "came to be a queen". I had no idea Oprah was raised by her grandmother on a small pig farm in Mississippi! It is truly an inspirational story. ( )

Oprah's dad was a soilder and her mama was a maid up north, so she lived with her grandparents on a farm in Mississipi. They were poor, no indoor plumbing, she didn't have her own bed and she only owned one pair of shoes but they never went hungry. Mama Hattie taught her to read the Bible, she taught her to read and write and also how to do math. She could read by herself at age three. They were very religious and went to church every Sunday and she even spoke in front of the church sometimes. When she started kindergarten she wrote a note to her teacher saying she didn't belong there and so her teacher skipped her to first grade where she met her friend Glenda Ray. She always dreamed of being paid to talk and she didn't what anyone had to say about it. There were no sources at the end of the book but this author has wrote a few other biographies on prominent African American figures. ( )

Oprah Winfrey was very confident since she was young. I learned so much about Oprah in this picture book. I think this book is great for a reader who knows very little of Oprah or nothing at all. I did not know she skipped first grade just from a note she had written her teacher. It was intriguing how when she was bullied, she would quote scriptures to her bullies. She knew since she was young that she will be successful in her speaking, and she did that very well. ( )

Oprah had a very modest humble upbringing, her father was a soldier and her mother left when she was very little to work as a maid in the North. Oprah grew up with her grandparents in the countryside of Mississippi where she had no indoor plumbing or even a bed of her own. I never knew Oprah was a name from the bible, something this book seemed to center around the idea of. G-D was always a part of her life, whether it was while she was doing her chores or celebrating His name in church. The first time Oprah participated in the act of public speaking, she was reading a church verse to the congregation, who listened to the young Oprah in awe of how the words flowed from her mouth. Once, when asked what she wanted to do when she grew up, Oprah responded, "I want to be paid to talk." To which the book stated, "as if she knew God's plan."
I've always known of the powerful and famous, beyond-wealthy woman, Oprah Winfrey, but I had never known about her early life, such as her attachment to the church or how she grew up on the opposite end of where she currently resides. ( )