Jefferson's Dream
The Ballad of the Declaration of Independence
by John Perrault
Explore the fundamental ideals of the American Republic in story and song. Jefferson's Dream includes portraits, commentary, musical scores, ballad lyrics, and a CD of Perrault's original ballads about eight great Americans who lived and advanced the Declaration of Independence: Thomas Jefferson, Harriet Tubman, Abraham Lincoln, Frederick Douglass, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Henry David Thoreau, Ida B. Wells, and Eleanor Roosevelt. In the best arts-education tradition, the book dramatizes how each of these figures carried forward the values of the Declaration of Independence—and how their struggles for liberty and equality continue to impact our lives. This is a book for classrooms, musicians and everyone interested in understanding the ideals of our country and how to make them live.
”John Perrault has a great passion for history and wonderful insight into the American experience. These stories and songs reflect an outstanding dedication to that passion.”
— Bill Staines
About the Author
John Perrault is the author of The Ballad of Louis Wagner and other New England Stories in Verse (Peter Randall Publisher) and a poetry collection, Here Comes the Old Man Now (Oyster River Press). His poetry has appeared in The Café Review, The Christian Science Monitor, Commonweal, Poet Lore and elsewhere. He is a touring artist with the NH State Council on the Arts and the New England Foundation for the Arts and is an Independent Scholar with the NH Humanities Council. John was Poet Laureate of Portsmouth, New Hampshire, 2003–2005.
To learn more about John Perrault and about his workshops and programs for schools, libraries, historical societies and museums, visit www.johnperrault.com.
96 pp, Sewn Paperback with French -Fold flaps/ Includes CD
ISBN 978-0-9801672-7-6 / Price $16.95
Publication Date: September, 2009
TEACHERS:
Please contact Kirsty Walker at kirsty.hobblebush@charter.net
to inquire about discounts
for classroom use.
From the Portsmouth Public Library website: "Guitar in hand, John Perrault urges the lyric tradition back into song in this retrospective of the American and English lyric. In addition to selected ballads, the presentation includes works by Burns, Blake, Wordsworth, Keats, Whitman, Dickinson, Longfellow, Dunbar, Hughes, Frost & Dylan."
