ALA Booklist (Wed Sep 01 00:00:00 CDT 1999)

Her grandson was Benjamin Banneker, the famous self-taught African American astronomer and mathematician (a biography of Baenneker is also reviewed in this issue); but Molly Bannaky's own life story is just as astonishing. This handsome, large-sized picture book shows her as a woman who was strong enough not only to survive harsh times but also to break new ground. The historical fiction story starts in seventeenth-century Britain, where she is a dairymaid who is saved from the gallows because she can read the Bible. After being extradited to America, she is freed after seven years as an indentured servant. She stakes her claim in the wilderness and buys a slave, Bannaky, to help her. They fall in love, marry (even though it is forbidden by colonial law), build a successful farm, and bear four daughters, one of whom marries an ex-slave and has a son, Benjamin. In the final double-page spread, Molly Bannaky is teaching her grandson to read and write. An afterword fills in the history, but the book's focus is on the big, richly detailed watercolor narrative paintings that combine historical pageantry with close-up portraits of a towering woman and her family. (Reviewed September 15, 1999)

Horn Book (Sat Apr 01 00:00:00 CST 2000)

This fictionalized biography traces Molly Bannaky's life from indentured servant to Maryland land owner--including her marriage to the African slave she bought and freed. The story ends somewhat abruptly with a brief mention that Molly's grandson was Benjamin Banneker; an author's note, however, provides information on the African-American inventor. Dramatic full-page illustrations will draw readers in.

Kirkus Reviews

A sneeze and a cow kicking over the milk launches this true tale of a 17-year-old dairymaid in England in 1683; Molly was subsequently accused of stealing her lordship's milk and brought before a court. Sentenced to seven years of bondage in America, she then struck out on her own, staked a claim and raised tobacco. She bought an African slave named Bannaky, who taught her about irrigation and crop rotation; when they fell in love, she freed him so that they could be legally married. Molly eventually taught her grandson, the famed Benjamin Banneker, how to read and write. McGill's telling is fine and sure, except for an unwieldy flashback in the beginning that explains a previous spilling of milk. Soentpiet adds to the drama of the story with bold, atmospheric paintings. The problem comes in the matching of text to art; the pacing, for children, is horrible at first, with a scene of Molly facing a courtroom of stone-faced men before she has even spilled the milk (the text to gets the courtroom mid- paragraph). Later, the scene of her working for someone else with two oxen is too similar to her striking out on her own with one ox; the scene of her realizing she can't manage on her own shows several other people working alongside her. These don't destroy the suspense, but will compromise the accessibility of the story for children. (Picture book. 4-8)

Publishers Weekly (Fri Oct 06 00:00:00 CDT 2023)

This sketchy, ultimately unfocused picture book introduces the spirited British exile who would become grandmother to Benjamin Banneker, the first black man to publish an almanac. After a cow knocks over a pail of milk, Molly, a 17-year-old dairy maid, must go on trial for theft--a crime punishable by death in 1683 England. However, because she can read the Bible, the court spares her life and instead deports her to America as an indentured servant. McGill effectively portrays Molly's determination when her servitude ends and she stakes her legal claim to farmland: """"That a lone woman should stake land was unheard of, but Molly's new neighbors saw the way she jutted out her chin."""" However, the narrative glosses over the evolution of Molly's relationship with Bannaky, an enslaved African she buys to help her work her land, as well as any social complications that may have arisen when she falls in love with Bannaky and later marries him. The abrupt conclusion conveniently introduces Benjamin Banneker and circles back to Molly's life-saving gift of literacy (she is shown teaching her grandson to read). A historical note fills in a few gaps in the story with some additional information about Molly Bannaky and Benjamin Banneker. Unfortunately, neither the note nor the story explains how the surname changed from Bannaky to Banneker. Soentpiet's watercolors span scenes of both public pageantry and private moments, but seem uncharacteristically stiff and undramatic. For example, the climactic spilt milk scene is left to readers' imagination. In addition, the illustrations of Molly are inconsistent; she looks almost like a different person from one spread to the next. Ages 4-8. (Sept.)