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The Legend ofJohn HenryLEVELED BOOK MA Reading A–Z Level M Leveled BookWord Count: 725Retold by Heather Lynne BanksIllustrated by Joel SnyderVisit www.readinga-z.comfor thousands of books and materials.www.readinga-z.com
The Legend ofJohn HenryRetold by Heather Lynne BanksIllustrated by Joel SnyderThe Legend of John HenryLevel M Leveled Book Learning A–ZRetold by Heather Lynne BanksIllustrated by Joel SnyderAll rights lationLEVEL MFountas & PinnellReading RecoveryDRAL1924
When the Civil War ended, the slavesbecame free, but life was still hard.John Henry needed to find a job.“Who will hire me?” he wondered.John Henry lived before therewere cars or airplanes. Railroadcompanies were hiring workers tobuild tracks all across America. Thework was hard and dangerous, butJohn Henry was brave and strong. So,like many other black men who hadonce been slaves, he went to workon the railroad.John Henry was born into a slavefamily. When he was just a boy, hehad to do the work of a full-grownman. He grew so fast thatsometimes the pants he put onin the morning were too short bynightfall. Soon, he was the biggestman around and the strongest, too.The Legend of John Henry Level M34
John Henry became a steel driver—a hammer man. Every day, heswung his twenty-pound hammerover and over again. Another manwould hold a drill bit against arock. Then John Henry would hitthe end of the drill bit with hishammer. He broke up rocks anddug tunnels through hills to makea path for the tracks.The Legend of John Henry Level M5The other workers liked JohnHenry. He worked harder andfaster than any three other men.John Henry had a deep, boomingvoice, and the other men enjoyedsinging work songs with him.6
One day, the railroad tracks ransmack into Big Bend Mountain. BigBend was so huge that the railroadcouldn’t be built around it. A tunnelwould have to be built throughthe mountain instead. “Don’tworry,” John Henry said. “Thatol’ mountain’s just a big rock, andsmashing through rocks is whatI do.”The Legend of John Henry Level M7The men worked fast, and JohnHenry worked fastest of all. Theyhammered away at Big BendMountain. But their boss wasn’thappy because he wanted thetunnel finished even faster. Theboss said he would fire the men ifthe tunnel wasn’t done on time.8
“My machine can drill faster thanany of your workers,” the salesmantold the boss. Most of the menlooked down and shook theirheads. They feared he was right.But John Henry spoke up. “Thatmachine can’t beat me!” he roared.The other men raised their headsand cheered.Then one day, a little man in a fancysuit arrived at the work camp.He was selling a steam-poweredmachine that could drill throughrock. His machine was the size ofa locomotive, and it spit fire andsmoke into the air.The Legend of John Henry Level M9Everyone came running to watchthe contest. John Henry stood tallin front of Big Bend Mountain. Hegripped a hammer in his mightyhands. The salesman pulled thelevers on his machine, and it madean awful noise. “When my machinewins, you’ll want to buy it. It willreplace all these people!” he yelledto the boss.10
John Henry knew he had to beat themachine. If the machine won, theboss would fire the men and use themachine to drill through Big BendMountain. But if John Henry won,the boss wouldn’t want the machine.He’d keep paying the men.The Legend of John Henry Level M11For the first time in his life, JohnHenry looked kind of small. Ormaybe the machine just looked big.But that didn’t scare John Henry.Whoo! The whistle blew, and thecontest began. John Henry groanedas he swung his hammer intothe rock. He heard the machinegroan, too. “A man is better than amachine,” he said under his breath.12
John Henry swung his hammer asquick as lightning. He put all hisstrength into breaking throughthe rock. He pushed ahead of themachine and didn’t look back.Whoo! The whistle blew again. Thecontest was over. John Henry hadhammered through almost twiceas much rock as the machine. JohnHenry won!The Legend of John Henry Level M13But the contest was too much forJohn Henry. He was too strong evenfor his own heart. While the menwere still cheering, he sat downagainst a rock and died. But hedied happy, with his hammer inhis hand.14
Glossarythe war between the northernand southern states of theUnited States of America(1861–1865) (p. 5)drill bit (n.) a metal cutting tool used tomake a hole in something (p. 5)fire (v.)to end a person’s job (p. 8)hire (v.)to agree to pay someone to doa job (p. 4)levers (n.) control arms that can be usedto operate a machine (p. 10)locomotive a vehicle that acts as a largeengine to push or pull railroad(n.)cars along tracks (p. 9)railroada set of metal tracks on whicha train travels; a company that(n.)operates a network of trains(p. 4)slave (n.)a person who is owned andcompletely controlled byanother person (p. 3)steel driver a railroad construction workerwhose job is to pound steel rods(n.)into rocks with a heavy hammer(p. 5)Civil War(n.)The other workers were sad to loseJohn Henry. But they were alsoproud of him for saving their jobs.From that day on, they sang a newsong as they worked. It was a songabout John Henry, the steel-drivingman.The Legend of John Henry Level M1516
Big Bend was so huge that the railroad couldn’t be built around it. A tunnel would have to be built through the mountain instead. “Don’t worry,” John Henry said. “That ol’ mountain’s just a big rock, and smashing through rocks is what I do.” The men worked fast, and John Henry worked fastes
