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.

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.

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!

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.

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.

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.