Further Tales of Uncle Remus - Author Study

Lester, J. (1990). Further Tales of Uncle Remus. Dial Books: New York.

Although four Uncle Remus Books were published, they were later republished as a complete collection so this third book was the last one that I could personally get a copy of.  This book continues to have encounters between Brer Rabbit and Mr. Man but also other animals mishaps with Mr. Man as well.  This collections introduces new characters such as Brer Buzzard and Brer Polecat.  What is important to note in these books that I hadn't noted before was that when Lester originally read Joel Chandler Harris's versions of these stories they were in "black slave language" and thus they were hard for those that speak common English today to understand.  Lester kept some of that slang or dialect as we refer to it, like Ain't and gon' but made it so the entire story isn't filled with that language.

The reason I point out language is because it is important to teach students about the use of dialect and slang in writing and when it is appropriate and when it is not.  The lesson is great to discuss author's purpose and language choice.  This collection is a good example of that.  The introductions written by Lester helped to give students the background knowledge to better synthesize the stories and make inferences from them.

More Tales of Uncle Remus - Author Study

Lester, Julius (1988). More Tales of Uncle Remus. Dial Books: New York.

When Julius Lester wrote his first Uncle Remus book he was rewriting a collection from Joel Chandler Harris.  This collection had 263 tales and 113 with Brer Rabbit.  Thus, it was not surprising that after receiving the Coretta Scott King Award for his first Uncle Remus book, he wrote another.  IN the introduction, by Julius Lester, he explains that Brer Rabbit is not a personified slave or even a black man but a personification of all people - black or white.  These are considered by Lester as "Trickster tales" and thus this collection and are not to be interpreted as moral lessons.   Lester does say though that Brer Rabbit was created by slaves and thus the importance in Afro-American history.  This collection has Brer Rabbit teaming up with Brer Fox, falling in love, and the introduction to Mr. Man.

This is a great continuation of the Uncle Remus stories as presented yesterday and could be taught in a similar way, but using different characters or talking about how those characters interact and what impact they have on Brer Rabbit's life.

The Tales of Uncle Remus - Author Study

Lester, J. (1987) The Tales of Uncle Remus. Dial Books: New York.

This book is a collection of stories told by Uncle Remus.  The forward of the book explains that when the stories were first published by Joel Chandler Harris in the late 1800s.  In those books Uncle Remus was an obedient slave who told these stories as a form of entertainment to the white slave owner's child.  The cultural thought those is that Brer Rabbit was in fact a personification of a slave and Brer Fox whom he often tricks is a slave owner.  In this collection, Lester write Uncle Remus, the storyteller, to be neither a slave nor a black person but a voice who is retelling the stories.  It is felt that they are an important part of black culture and history.

This book would work well when chosen stories are pre-selected for either reading groups or independent reading that would lend themselves well to reading responses.  Because many of the stories have a central character but do not need to be read in order students can teach each other about the story that they read and then they can come up with a character profile of Brer Rabbit from the retold stories. 

Day of Tears - Author Study

Lester, J. (2005) Day of Tears. Hyperion Books: New York.

This is the story of a slave named Emma who has helped to raise her master's daughters since their mother left.  Her master is a very wealthy landowner with many slaves but he gets himself into a lot of problems due to a gambling debt.  This story is about the two days that he needed to auction off his slaves in order to pay off his $300,00 gambling debt.  This was an actual event and is called the day of tears because it rained hard throughout the entire auction and stopped almost immediately as soon as the auction was complete.  

If you've read enough of this blog, you know that I always look for books that are written from a unique point of view.  This book is true to that choice and passion.  It is written as a novel in dialogue.  I cannot think of any other novel that is written in this way.  I've read novels in poetry but never in dialogue.  This book would be great for students to practice their fluency and to read in a reading group because students can take roles and see the author's true intent and reasons for writing in dialogue.

Let's Talk About Race - Author Study Book

Lester, J. (2005). Let's Talk About Race. Harper Collins: New York.

This is a beautifully illustrated book that is cleverly written.  It is written as a conversation to the reader.  It is intended to be read aloud or to a child.  It asks the child to think about themselves, about others and especially about race.  The message is that no matter what people say, we are all made up of the same parts and we are all the same.  Our race does not make us better than others.

This book is great to be read aloud to children because of the discussion that is encouraged from this book.  The author asks a lot of questions to the reader that are important for children to think about and talk about in a safe space like a classroom.  A great lesson in equality to be taken away from reading and discussing this text.

The Underground Railroad

Ashby, R (2002). The Underground Railroad. Smart Apple Media: Minnesota.

This nonfiction book is comprised of four chapters.  The first is about the history of slavery.  When and how is started, why it continued, how it created and effected the farming society of the south.  The second part was about the anti-slavery movement led by the abolitionists and Quakers.  An interesting fact that I had never thought of before was that Northerners didn't like abolitionists.  They felt that black people were going to steal their jobs.  The third chapter of the book is about the Underground Railroad and  how it worked.  It also chronicles seven famous slaves and their stories.  One of which is Henry "Box" Brown, whose story I had never heard of until I read Henry's Freedom Box.The final chapter of this book is about life after slavery for blacks in America.  It notes the difficulty and the challenges that they faced.

This book is filled with great historical facts that would be good to help children build them schema of the Underground Railroad and slavery both before and during the study of slavery.  Because it tells of the facts it is a great companion to read in conjunction with the picture books that are fiction but based on true stories.

Night Boat to Freedom

Raven, M. T (2006). Night Boat to Freedom. Macmillan: New York.

Another story about getting slaves to freedom.  This story was about a 12 year old boy named Christmas John (because he was born on Christmas).  His grandmother taught him to row a boat across the Ohio River to help other slaves get to freedom.  She always asked him what color the freed slaves were wearing and she began to make a freedom quilt.  One night he finally decided it was their turn and took her across as well, carrying her quilt.

A great activity would for students to design their own freedom quilt (since quilt's were a running theme of the Underground Railroad) and have them make different patches to symbolize different aspect of their lives.

The Wagon

Johnston, T. (1996) The Wagon. Tambourine Books: New York.

This book is much darker in terms of the mood of this book than others I have read about slavery.  It is about a boy who is angry about being a slave.  He lashes out and shows his emotions and suffers the consequences as a result.  Unlike other slavery books, the boy only obtains his freedom after emancipation, not through escaping via the Underground Railroad.

This book is great for teaching about mood and tone since the mood of this book is not one of hope and promise like in previous slavery books.  This book more accurately depicts the feeling that many slaves felt as they were growing up in a life not filled with hope.

Sweet Clara and the Freedom Quilt

Hopkinson, D. (1993). Sweet Clara and the Freedom Quilt. Alfred A. Knopf: New York.

This book is actually the book tat come before Under the Quilt of Night, which I read as part of my annotated text set.  This book is about a girl named Clara who is taught to sew to get her out of the field so she can become a house slave (much easier than being a field slave).  She then uses her sewing knowledge and what people tell her to create a quilt that acts as a map to help slaves get free.  She does not take the quilt with her as she escapes because she leaves it for others to use as a map when it is time for them to escape as well.

Although related to Under the Quilt of Night the two quilts are not the same quilt.  Quilting is obviously a common theme in slavery books and students can start to use their background knowledge to explain why.  I can share the quilts that I have made with my students and we can talk about the stories contained within them.

From Slave Ship to Freedom Road - Author Study

Lester, J. (1998). From Slave Ship to Freedom Road.  Puffin Books: New York.

This book is not a story but more an outpouring of emotion and a narrative expression that the author wrote to add words to very powerful images.  Julius Lester gives historical facts and voices to people in the paintings.  The images and the text take you from slave ship to freedom and the many paths that slaves walked along.  It pointedly asks you to think about things and addresses them as "Imagination Exercises" and has different one for both whites and blacks.

Although a picture book, the thoughts expressed are too deep for elementary school and better saved for middle and high school.  Students in high school and middle school are rarely read picture books so this would be a good transition for them into such a deep subject and such emotion coming from the words and images.

The preface of this books asks readers not to be passive readers but to imagine themselves in these images.  This would be a great way to start a reading response to the book itself.  To take one painting from this book and describe yourself as one of the people pictured in the painting.

John Henry - Author Study

Lester, J. (1994). John Henry. Dial Books: New York.

The text itself does not mention any slavery but the preface text, which describes the historical accuracy of the text mentions that John Henry was probably an ex-slave.  The tale tells of John's incredible speed, strength and ability.  He could beat horses in a foot race, chop an acre of woods down in a day and what he was most well known for was being able to hammer through mountains faster than machines.

This book is a great addition to other folk tales that children learn.  What makes John Henry so great?  What ways was he extraordinary? He didn't just have incredible strength but his story can also be taught about overcoming evil and doing what is good.

The Foot Warmer and the Crow

Coleman, E. (1994) The Foot Warmer and the Crow. Macmillan: New York.

This is a story about a young boy who was a slave.  Like many stories from slavery, this story is about the boy wanting to get free and in doing so would have to trick his master.  He became his master's foot warmer at night (which meant he slept at the foot of the bed to keep the master's feet warm).  While doing this, he learned of many things that the master was thinking and dreaming of, including his biggest fears and nightmares because the master talked in his sleep.  The boy was able to use this knowledge to bet his freedom with the master.

This book is great used as a read aloud in elementary school years for students to analyze plot development including climax and turning point.

Something Upstairs - Contemporary Fiction Chapter book

Avi (1988). Something Upstairs. Avon Books: New York.

This story centers around a boy named Kenny who recently moved from Los Angeles to Rhode Island.  In his new home appears to be a ghost and a mysterious stain on the floor of the room the ghost is trying to escape from.  As Kenny talks to and gets to know they ghost he learns that the ghost was once a slave, named Caleb, in that house and is trying to get free.  Kenny is the only one who can get him free by discovering who killed the slave in the first place and therein lies the mystery!

Contemporary Fiction - mystery (although you could make a case that this is a fantasy novel because there is time travel).  Grades 3-6

The main character is trying to investigate and solve the murder of a slave from the early 1800s.  If the boy does not find the slaves murderer than the slave will have ghost.  Despite the boy's fear, he travels back to the 1800s to learn about slavery in Rhode Island and how the slave trade was big business for a few slave traders and they did not want slavery to abolished and would go to extreme ends to ensure that slavery remained.

This is a great book for students to practice the Mosaic of thought with and independently show their use of the comprehension strategies.  There are multiple opportunities for inferences, determining what is important, using prior knowledge of slavery, asking questions, creating mental images and monitoring for comprehension.  In fact, this book is a wonderful way for a child to practice all of the strategies.

The Adventures of High John the Conqueror - Traditional Literature Chapter book

Sanfield, S. (1989). The Adventures of High John the Conqueror.  Orchard Books: New York.

This book is a series of short storied that are all folk tales about a slave named High John.  As with all folk tales, these have been passed down through generations and through slave populations about High John who was always a little more clever than his masters.  His cleverness gets him free as he often makes bets with his master and outsmarts him.  The tales continue into ways that High John was able to outsmart people as a free man as well.  A particularly famous tale that is included in this collection is "Tops and Bottoms".  It is how High John made a deal with a farm owner to share their crops and John always got the best of him.  There are also history lessons about slavery and slave times included where it helps one to enhance the story or make meaning of the language or events.

Traditional literature Chapter book - Folk tale.   Grades 2-4.  All artwork contained is pencil drawings.

There are quite a bit of folk tales from slave times because slaves were not taught to read or write so they often told one another stories.  The stories about outwitting a slave owner or ways in which slaves got ahead were always interesting and passed down to many.  What makes these stories of slavery great is that they weren't just about a slave and his owner but they were also about slaves relationships with one another.

This book is great for guided reading in that the stories are short (only a few pages) and all groups can read one or two.  They can also read the historical information that goes along with the story.  It helps to build their schema.  There can be extensions done with these stories and students would love to act them out.

Ship Breaker - Fantasy chapter book

Bacigalup, P. (2011) Ship Breaker. Little Brown Group: New York.

Ship Breaker is about a boy named Nailer in a future world here in the United States.  Nailer is in a slaves state as a ship breaker (someone who scavenges old ships for parts).  He lives day to day and receives very little in terms of food for survival.  He can only trust his "crew" and then is betrayed by one of his own and his outlook on life changes.  He finds his ticket to freedom and wealth and doesn't take it but believes in trust instead.  He follows the "Lucky Girl' (Nita) in hopes that she can find her family and that will one day take him to a better place.  His journey with her leads her to see New Orleans and the life of the have and have-nots in this new dystopian society that is now the southern United States.

Fantasy chapter book (dystopian future).  Grades 7-12.

I find it ironic that the last book I read for the theme set is is the only one that doesn't focus on US history and African American slavery but yet it still takes place in that same location.  Although this book doesn't have slavery as we recall it from our history, Nailer, the main character in this book is living in a slave society of those that have things and those that don't.  They rely on family and those that they trust and they are always dreaming of freedom while working hard and few ever attain it.

This book is a great one to read in parallel to a study of US slavery in the 1800s because a reader response can be for children to compare the characters to that of slaves from history.  How does this story parallel slaves of the past.  Students can draw the comparisons as they study the past of what the future can hold.  They then can analyze using facts from Ship Breaker what were the causes for society to become this way and create a plan for how to avoid such a future for out country.  It is a great cross curricular study of history!

Under the Quilt of Night - Historical Fiction Picture book

Hopkinson, D. (2001). Under the Quilt of Night. Atheneum Books: New York.

This story is a true historical fiction story from the point of view of a child who is traveling the Underground Railroad to get to freedom.  What makes this book unique is that the story is broken into sections: Running, Waiting, Watching, Hiding, Traveling, and Singing.  It tells of the experiences and the feelings of the main character through each step they take.  This story is the most true to fact about what I have always heard about the experiences of the Underground Railroad.

Historical Fiction Picture book - Grades K-3.  Oil paintings.

This book is typical of most historical representations of what I've grown up learning about the Underground Railroad.  Slaves had to escape and were often afraid and their escapes would often having them run at night and hide during the day.  They would find safe houses where there would be signs and special codes or signals that they would know to say.  I still find the communication of it all to be remarkable when you think about it!

This book lends itself well to a reading response.  Because of the sections, students can read and respond wither written or orally about how they would feel if that were them.  They can also make predictions based upon the section title as to what is going to happen.  This will activate their prior knowledge as well.

Bring Me Some Apples and I'll Make You a Pie - Contemporary Fiction Picturebook

Gourley, R. (2009) Bring Me Some Apples and I'll Make You a Pie. Clarion Books: New York.

This book takes you through the harvest season from strawberries, to greens, to honey, to cherries, etc on finally to nuts and apples.  All the while the kids talk about what wonderful food they will have because of that specific harvest, like pie or bread or honey on their biscuits.  There are also quotes that are inferred to be lessons that the children have learned from their ancestors about those harvest.  The kids appreciate the fruits of their harvest and how their hard work is necessary to keep them happy all winter long.

Contemporary fiction picture book - contemporary realism.  For grades K-3.  Illustrations are watercolors.

You would know know that this book has any connections to slaves had you not read the inside cover.  The main characters live in a town in Virginia called Freetown.  It was a community of freed slaves founded by Edna Lewis (the main character's family).  Although fiction, the story is on her life and the lesson that she learned to use fresh, local ingredients whenever possible.

This is a book read aloud book because of the sense that are conjured up the food described.  Students can almost listen to the book without the pictures and then talk about what the book makes them think of.  How do they feel after reading the book?

Daily Life on a Southern Plantation 1853 - Informational Text Picturebook

Erickson, P. (1997). Daily Life on a Southern Plantation: 1853. New York: Puffin Books.

This is a more advanced picture book (similar to the DK eyewitness books) that contains a myriad of photographs  diagrams, illustrations, and maps to tell about life on a Southern Plantation from two perspectives.  There is the perspective of the slave (Daddy Major) and the family of plantation owners (The Hendersons).  This combination of the two perspectives give an interesting twist on the information presented.  The book contains everything from daily life to getting the family ready, to schoolwork and where everyone sleeps.

Informational Picturebook for children in grades 4-6.  The book primarily has photography of how artifacts or places look today or how they look restored.  There are plenty of diagrams and maps to aid in learning as well as illustrations of what the family may have looked like.

I always love the DK eyewitness books because of the layout and ease of reading selected parts.  There is not an apparent sequence to this book so it allows one to skip and jump from section to section.  It lends itself very well to reading from both points of view and discussing the use of slavery from both the white owners side and the slaves side.

Because of the great discussion points that this book brings up, it is a great one to allow students to respond to the text.  It will allow students to look at an issue from a point of view that they don't often read about and take a stance.  The information provides within the text, allow the reader to substantiate their stance with evidence which is so vital in teaching informational literature!

Carver: A life in Poems - Poetry Chapter Book

Nelson, M. 2001) Carver: A life in Poems. Library of Congress Cataloging: New York.

This is a a biography written in a series of poems from the point of view of people that had experiences with George W. Carvery throughout his life.  If helps to chronicle a bit of American history as it travels through slavery, segregation, the depression and WWI.  Carver was born from a slave mother but was raised by his white owners as their own when his mother was kidnapped.  It is those "adoptive" parents who set him free to pursue his education and his passions in life.  He eventually got his master's degree and was a professor in agriculture.  The amount of research he did into the uses of peanut is incredible - my kind of man!  I love peanuts.

Poetry chapter book (but also a biography).   Grades 6+.

This book is significant in the study of slavery because it gives hope to slaves that there is a future.  Carver suffered a lot and was faced with many barriers and hatred.  He crossed racial barriers and was in love with a white woman who committed suicide.  He was also discriminated by his colleagues and fellow African Americans because he spoke "like a white person" and had an advanced degree and wore "white people clothes."

This book would lend itself to reading talk.  There is a lot that needs to be inferred and connected from one poem to the next in this book and it would help students to be able to put the pieces of Carver's life together if the students could talk about it.  Poetry also is a great resource for reader response.  There is meaning that can get made from each of these poems although the meaning has a purpose from the author, the reader does not need to create that purpose.

Minty: A story of a young Harriet Tubman - Biography Picturebook

Schroeder, A (1996). Minty: A story of a young Harriet Tubman. New York: Dial.

This biography is from a completely different perspective as the biography of Harriet Tubman earlier presented.  This biography details her childhood as that of being very disobedient to her slave owners but loyal to her family.  It discusses how her taught her the numerous survival skills she used to become free.  It also told the story of how there was one night where she had the opportunity to escape and become free if she only had the courage to steal a horse.  That experience and the regret of it, must have taught her to have courage further in life.

Biography picture book for K-3.  The illustrations are done with pencil, colored pencil and watercolor.

I wanted to keep my two biographies about the same person as to compare them.  This book helps to build Harriet Tubman as a character and a person much more because we feel more attached to her childhood and her actions as a child.  It makes her more like someone the kids can relate to.  Hearing about her becoming a nurse and a conductor and a spy seem so fanatical but hiding when you are called and setting the traps free.  Those are experiences that kids can relate to!

Because of the content of this text, I would use this book as a read aloud to discuss character.  I would position it as a person who I loved and admired but who was a kid who acted just like them.  Then the students could better think about how she was like them as I was reading.

Aunt Harriet's Underground Railroad in the Sky - Fantasy Picturebook

Ringgold, F. (1992) Aunt Harriet's Underground Railroad in the Sky. New York: Scholastic.

This story of a girl, Cassie, and her little brother, BeBe, who had a dream one day.  The dream took her to a train in the sky.  The train taught the two of them about Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad.  In the story Harriet Tubman tells Cassie and BeBe about slavery, slave customs, and slave living. Harriet then has Cassie imagine what it would be like to live then by travelling in time, to feel what it was like to live in a slave house or try to escape along the underground railroad.  

Fantasy Picture book - Fantastic Story (because of the time travel and the flying through the sky).  This book is for grades K - 5.  It is a picture book that is illustrated with paint on canvas.

I love books that have different perspectives or teach without being textbook like....Aunt Harriet's does that in many ways.  It teaches about the underground railroad and about Harriet Tubman.  It also changes from many different perspectives.  It is the multiple perspectives that makes this book more challenging and at times difficult to understand.  The picture really aid in one's comprehension and I'm not sure you could fully understand it without it.  

This is a great book to read over and over and even to use as an anticipatory guide for learning about the underground railroad and slavery.  It is a great book do use  a lot of the "Mosaic of thought" principles.  There is a lot of inferring that needs to be done to connect the dots in this book!

The Invisible Princess - Traditional Literature Picturebook

Ringgold, F. (1999) The Invisible Princess. New York: Crown Publishers, Inc.

The Invisible Princess is about a family of slaves, Mama and Papa Love who are given the joy of having a child, but for fear of losing this child to their slave owner, Captain Pepper, they pray to Great Lady of Peace to protect their child.  On the day of their child's birth, the Prince of Night came and took their daughter away to protect her so that she could one day be the princess she was foretold to be.  Everyone morned her loss except Captain Pepper's blind daughter.  She could see the Invisible Princess.  Captain Pepper heard about this and wanted to capture the princess.  Because of this, the Invisible Princess knew trouble would come and the Great Lady of Peace hatched a plan to save all of the slaves.  They were able o trick the Captain and in return, he freed all of his slaves.

Traditional literature Picture book - fairy tale (because of the existence of a princess and the Prince of Night and the Great Lady of Peace - a fairy godmother like character). Grades K-3.  All artwork is pain on canvas.

This is another tales related to escaping slavery.  This is a tale of the family who does not want their child to be born into slavery and asks for a way to free her from it.

This book would lend itself to a book talk about real versus imaginary and what does it mean to be Invisible and who might be Invisible but still around us.  Do we all believe in things being Invisible.  Why might the author have made this girl Invisible and why does the significance of the daughter being blind mean so much to the story.

Juneteenth: A Day to Celebrate Freedom - Informational Text Chapter book

Leeper, A. (2004 ). Juneteenth: a day to celebrate freedom from slavery. Berkeley Heights, NJ: Enslow Publishers, Inc.

This book describes the origins, the celebration and the growth of an African American holiday - Juneteenth. Juneteenth is a holiday to celebrate the last day that slaves found out they were free in Texas.  The holiday is celebrated with parades, barbecues and red soda pop (it never explained the significance of red soda pop other than it was part of the first Juneteenth celebration.  It may have been a luxury item in the time of slavery and something slaves couldn't normally drink, but once free they could.  Red soda pop was referred to multiple times as part of the celebration).

Informational Text - chapter book for grade 2-5.  It contains mostly photographs and maps to support the text.

When telling a friend about my project on reading a book a day, she told me to go to the Juneteenth celebration here in Winston-Salem.  Growing up in Connecticut I had never heard of such a celebration and thus felt that if I was going to read an informational text about slavery, I might as well read about information I don't already know about, thus my choice of text.  Juneteenth was the day that the slaves in Texas (some of the last slaves still in America) found out about the Emancipation Proclamation that all slaves were free and thus this is a day that African Americans in Texas and other states celebrate their freedom.

This is a great book to use Louise Rosenblatt's transactional theory concept with.  There will certainly be students whose families are very involved within the African American community who have heard of and experienced this holiday.  There will be others who have never heard of it.  It is a great way to just present the word and have people write what it means, what they know about it, etc.  I only wish it fell while we were in school to share the celebration with the class.

Who Was Harriet Tubman? - Biography Chapter Book

McDonough, Y. Z. (2002). Who was Harriet Tubman? New York, NY: Penguin Putnam Books for Young Readers.

This book is part of the "Who Was..." series of biographies.  They are all written so that they are more accessible for younger students to read biographies.  This book give a full listing of events in her life.  It talks about her young childhood and how she learned many of the survival skills that helped her be a conductor on the Underground Railroad.  What it also went into detail about was that her life's work was more than just the Underground Railroad.  She was only doing the Underground Railroad for 8 years.  She usually ran slaves twice a year but had such a steep price on her head that she had to stop.  She did so much more with her life.  She was a military nurse, a spy for the northern army, started a Home for those that needed help or caring for, spoke at many rallies and so much more.  Harriet Tubman is known for what she did on the Underground Railroad, but her life was filled so much more!

Biography for Grades 2-5.  It is a chapter book with black and white pencil sketches, diagrams, and maps to aid in understanding

Harriet Tubman is a significant person to any study of the Underground railroad.  I had never read any books as part of this series and I wanted to as to determine their usefulness in nonfiction literature.

This book is a great book to help dissuade those students who have a negative feeling towards academic reading.  There is a great amount of knowledge that can be gained from this book and it can be read by many academic levels and still attain information.  I only wish it contained more nonfiction text features, like and index, a glossary, or bold words so that it could be even more accessible as an academic text.

Sky Sash So Blue - Poetry Picture Book

Hathorn, L. (1998). Sky Sash So Blue. New York: Simon & Schuster.

This poem is a story written in rhyming poetic verse about the secret life slaves had.  Sissy was to be married to John Bee so her mother gathered bits of scraps and castoffs from their slave masters to gather and make a wedding dress out of.  The story is told from the younger daughter's perspective and how she wants to use the blue sash that her mother made her once to add to her sister's dress.  The sister's freedom is bought by John Bee and they one day hope that their freedom will one day be bought as well.

Poetry Picture Book for readers in Grades 2-5.  Illustrations in paint and collage.

This story is of a slave family and how they hope to one day be free.

As many poems are, this is a great poem for oral reading.  You can hear they rhythm and beat that the author intended when writing this story.

Trouble Don't Last - Historical Fiction - Chapter

Pearsall, S. (2002). Trouble Don't Last. New York: Random House.

Samuel is an 11 year old boy born into slavery where Mz Catherine and Mas'r Hackler do not make his life easy, neither do their two sons.  Until one day when fellow slave Harrison,much older than him, wakes him up and forces him to run for freedom.  The book carries their journey navigating the Underground Railroad, full of distrust and both whites and blacks that Harrison teaches Samuel to be cautious of.  Throughout their journey, Samuel learns of Harrison's secrets and Samuel's past, including his mother and grandfather's identities.

Historical Fiction Chapter book - Historical Era - Slavery and the Underground Railroad of 1859

Grades 6-8

Seeing that my theme is slavery and Trouble Don't Last won the Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction book, it seemed only fitting that it be the first book that I place into my study of slavery.  There will be many stories from the slaves point of view while I cover this topic.  I personally love books from a unique perspective and when reading to children, I love books from a child's perspective.  I was also reading this book alongside my eleven year old niece.  I believe that as readers we love to talk about our reading, so whenever I can, I like to talk about my reading with someone.  It just happened that she was reading this book as well.

Because of the language and the dialect used in this book, this book lends itself well to guided reading.  There is a lot that a teacher can help to guide the students into understanding.  There is a lot of discussion around character's feeling and motivations - like why Samuel continually wants to go back to his master? Why does he not want to find freedom?  These are questions that having a teacher pose to students allows them to think about and delve into.

Henry's Freedom Box

There is no question as to why this book was a Caldecott Honor book.  The illustrations and perspective alone in this book are so interesting, diverse and fun.  I love how they show how contorted Henry was while his box was upside down and the struggle on the the little part of his face we could see.  I loved how it showed the cut out of what Henry was thinking while the men on the outside were sitting on him.  Such a fun play on the illustration and what a great jumping off point for lessons on inference.

The story though was both sad and uplifting.  It was sad that his wife and children were sent off, never to be seen again without a goodbye.  This alone is a great discussion point for children, what would it be like if today were the last they would have been to see someone they loved.

Yet Henry's freedom (and another new way in which I've never read about how slaves got free) is very positive.  He had to make sacrifices and put himself in danger but it is what he wanted.

Fifty Cents and a Dream

In a different tone of slavery is a story of the faith and hope that many slaves had.  This biography of Booker T. Washington was beautifully illustrated but the story wasn't one that I wanted to read over and over.  There are a lot of good teaching points and a great deal of content about character of a man that can be taught from this book.  Booker T Washington was incredibly determined as evidenced in this book.  He overcame more than many other men and is a great symbol of endurance and believing in yourself and following your dreams.  What he did to follow his dream was certainly a great feat and that alone should be shared, especially with those that feel like they can't ever make anything of themselves.