Who Was Edgar Allan Poe?

Who Was Edgar Allan Poe?

Author: Jim Gigliotti 

Illustrator: Tim Foley 

Grade Level: 4-8

Genre: Biography 

Awards: none

Summary: This book takes you through the life of Edgar Allan Poe.  The book begins describing his father's abandonment and his mother's tragic death.  Poe is then taken in by the Allan family and grows up under their care.  Years later, Mrs. Allan dies of the same infection as Poe's mother - tuberculosis.  Poe is faced with more death the older he gets, including his young cousin whom he was married to.  The book concludes with Poe's mysterious death in an alleyway.  People still are unsure the exact cause of Poe's death.  

Evaluation: This is definitely a book I will include in my classroom library.  Poe's works are usually introduced to students during the middle school years.  This would be a great way for students to do a deeper author study of Poe.

The readability is between fourth and eighth grade.  Some of the facts mentioned in this book (ex. gambling and excessive drinking) may be a little too mature for younger readers.  However, those facts are told in a way that is appropriate for fourth graders.

I recently used this book during my student teaching.  The class was assigned to write a creative, fictional, spooky story that took place in their school.  I began the unit by introducing them to Poe.  I gave them a brief introduction to his life and then encouraged them to check out Who Was Edgar Allan Poe? in order to gain a better understanding.  We then read "The Raven" and talked about what the raven symbolized in the story and in Poe's life.  We also noted how Poe is often depicted with a raven near him.