This books story line is based off a young boy, Jude, who was found floating in the river by Addy, a slave. This young boy lifted multiple burdens from the plantation such as lack of food, farming issues, and making the farm animals younger. Jude also created natural disasters which led to the escaping of many slave families from the plantation. The author does a fantastic job in portraying the slaves daily duties from their master. ( )

Genre: Tall Tale
Age: intermediate
Review: This book was about a boy named Jabe who made everything better on a plantation. He did all the work and when someone got in trouble, Jabe would save them by crating a "natural disaster" and then bringing the people to his pear tree to disappear. This is a tall tale because the story took place in a realistic plantation, but there were parts that are unbelievable, such as when Jabe makes people disappear. There were also exaggerations of how fast Jabe could get work done.
Comment on Use: This could be used in the classroom when discussing slavery and how people were treated. It could also be used to help students determine the subtle parts of a book that makes it a tall tale.
Media: Watercolor and Gouache ( )

I liked this book for many reasons. One reason I enjoyed it is because it pushes readers to think about tough issues. For example, Addy was caught helping Jabe, so she was chained up. Although this is a fictional book, these kinds of situations happened all the time. Jabe helped Addy escape, which also heightens the importance of heroes in the slavery period. Secondly, the illustrations enhanced the story very well. One example is when the book says, “…a twister blew in bad. It lifted the full-grown trees out of the ground and tossed them around like they were no more than dry leaves.” The illustration on that page shows animals and trees in the sky being blown away and the trees are slanted, making it actually look like the wind is very strong. Finally, I enjoyed this book because the descriptive language made it easier to visualize what was being told, even if there was an illustration alongside. One example would be, “Cornstalks looked to scrape the sky, yielding foot-long ears of sweet, sweet corn.” I can visualize long, long stalks that are in very good condition. The main message of this book is the importance of helping people in need as well as the importance of heroes. ( )

"Big Jabe" by Jerdine Nolen is a story of a boy named Jabe that was found on a plantation while a woman named Addy was fishing one day. It seemed like Addy could not catch a fish when she found Jabe, so when Jabe found out that news he helped Addy by making all the fish come out the lake and into Addy's basket. After that day Jabe worked on the plantation. Jabe did such a great job on the plantation that Mr.Sorenson, the manager of the plantation, started to get mad. He didn't like the fact that a slave could do such a great job, so he wanted to hurt Jabe. Mr.Plenty, the owner of the plantation, wouldn't hear of it. He told Mr.Sorenson to stay away from Jabe, so Mr.Sorenson wanted to take his anger out on all the other slave, but all the other slaves that he was going to hurt started to disappear. Mr.Plenty thought they ran away. All the slaves were gone except for Addy and Jabe, so Mr.Plenty and Mr.Sorenson went looking for them, but they were no where to be found. Mr.Plenty put Addy in chains and left her in the smoke house, because they thought she was behind all of this. The next day she was gone and Jabe left as well. Jabe grew from a boy to a adult within days and realized he can become a better person by helping and protecting people. ( )

This book is about a unique boy who turns out to be a strong and courageous man. This man’s name is Jabe. Jabe is a slave at the Plenty Plantation who ultimately plays a significant role in helping people escape slavery. The author and illustrator take readers to the south during a time when slavery was still around. This book could potentially be good for young readers to gain somewhat of an understanding of what slavery is and what it was like. ( )