The Oldest Student: How Mary Walker Learned To Read by Rita Lorraine Hubbard & Oge Mora

The Oldest Student tells the story of Mary Walker, born a slave in 1848 and her remarkable feat of learning to read when she was 116 years old.

When Mary was a young girl, working in the fields, she often gazed at the birds flying above and wondered what it was like to be free. At age eight, she knew there was no time for daydreaming on the Union Springs, Alabama where she was a child slave. Mary also knew that slaves were forbidden from learning to read or write. Mary decided that one day when she was free, she would learn to read.

Mary, her mother and her siblings eventually became free with the issuing of the Emancipation Proclamation. While many freed slaves left the  South, Mary's family stayed. she and her mother, brothers and sister shared a one-room cabin. Mary worked at many different jobs to help her mother support their family. 

One day Mary was given a Bible by a group of evangelists as she traveled along a road. She couldn't read the words inside, but owning the Bible became her inspiration for learning to read. It would take Mary many decades before her wish came true.

Discussion

The story of Mary Walker is a lesson in determination, resiliency and the importance of life-long learning. Although not much is known about Mary's life between the ages of fifteen and one-hundred-sixteen, author Rita Lorraine Hubbard has creatively fleshed out her life story in an engaging way. Once Mary learned to read, her life took on a more public aspect. Her accomplishment was honoured by Chattanooga's mayor, the press and even the US Department of Education.

Inside the front and back covers of The Oldest Student, Hubbard has included photographs of Mary Walker and also included is an Author's Note about Mary's life, featuring a few more interesting details. A Selected Bibliography can be found in the front matter of the picture book. The illustrations accompanying the text were rendered in acrylic paint, china marker, coloured pencil, patterned paper, and book clippings by artist Oge Mora. 

Book Details:

The Oldest Student. How Mary Walker Learned To Read by Rita Lorrain Hubbard
New York: Schwartz & Wade Books           2020