Molasses Man

By Kathy May

On a warm afternoon in late summer, when the sorghum cane is ripe and ready, Grandpa decides it's time to make molasses. There is so much to do. The cane needs to be cut. Then the juice needs to be... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0823414388
• ISBN13: 9780823414383
• Release Date: July 2000
• Publisher: Holiday House
• Length: 32 Pages
• Weight: 0.90 lbs.
• Dimensions: 10.5" x 0.5" x 8.5"
• Age Range: 4 to 8 years
• Grade Range: Preschool to Grade 3

Customer Reviews

Molasses Man

I read this book to the 3rd grade class and they were spell-bound. This book was very accurate in it's description on the molasses making process. The illustrations are great also!

Good for social studies lesson

I used this book to teach a reading and social studies lesson to a second grade class. I selected it because of the sense of community it conveys, the excellent illustrations in it that depict the process of making molasses in such an artistic, yet technically correct manner, and because it fit neatly with one of our social studies curriculum objectives: to compare how products are made to day with how they were made in the past. I started the lesson by showing the students a jar of molasses with the label covered - turning it over and around so that they could see the slow flow of the molasses in the jar - and I asked them to guess what it is. I then passed around samples of the molasses in spoons so that the students could smell and taste and touch it. At that point, their interest level was definitely high - so, I proceeded to read the book to them. The lesson was a great success in terms of student engagement. I recommend this book highly.

This book is about so much in so few pages

Kathy May takes what seems to be a simple tale-- the making of molasses, and turns it into a turning point in a child's life. A moment where family and community and the past and the future (the little boy narrator is to become the next "Molasses Man") come together, Ms. May weaves these threads into a story that even very young children will enjoy hearing.The primitive, at times impressionistic paintings go well with the text, helping small children form images of a world that is rapidly disappearing.Highly recommended.