“Reading can be a road to freedom or a key to a secret garden, which, if tended, will transform all of life.” This is the reason I return to writing this blog again and again. What's driving me to write today are the wonderful books recently shared among teachers at school during the commemoration of the life of Martin Luther King Jr. followed by Black History Month.
Here are just a few:
Goin Somplace Special by Patricia McKissack Illustrated by Jerry Pinkney
Trisha Ann is excited to be old enough to venture downtown on her own, to go someplace special. But this is the 1950's in the segregated South and, when she steps onto the bus, she is dismayed to be sent to sit in the back. To assuage the hurt she feels, her grandmother tells her, "You are somebody, a human being - no better, no worse than anybody else in this world." These words inspire her heart and press her to keep going. At every turn, as she faces more pain, someone or something uplifts her again and again. Read everything you can written by this author and drawn by this illustrator. They are prominent in the field of children's literature and have won numerous awards.
Tar Beach by Faith Ringgold
The Horn Book Magazine has been an invaluable guide in my review of children's literature. Here is their starred review:
"Ringgold recounts the dream adventure of eight-year-old Cassie Louise Lightfoot, who flies above her apartment-building rooftop, the ‘tar beach’ of the title, looking down on 1939 Harlem. Part autobiographical, part fictional, this allegorical tale sparkles with symbolic and historical references central to African-American culture. The spectacular artwork resonates with color and texture. Children will delight in the universal dream of mastering one’s world by flying over it. A practical and stunningly beautiful book." The author received both the Caldecott Honor and Coretta Scott King Awards for her illustrations. She is also known for her painted story quilts; her mixed media art has garnered numerous awards and honors including from the National Endowment for the Arts.
https://www.faithringgold.com/
Ringgold won countless awards for her books for children. Some notable titles are: Aunt Harriet's Undergroud Railroad in the Sky (A Jane Addams Peace Assoc. Book), Cassie's Word Quilt, My Dream of Martin Luther King, We Came to America, and If a Bus Could Talk: The Story of Rosa Parks.
The wife and husband team, Lesa Cline-Ransome (writer) and James E. Ransome (illustrator) have brought several picture book gems to readers.
Freedom's School.
In the beginning of this story, mama says, "Lizzie, bein' free means we got to work harder than every before. And I don't just mean in the field. Real freedom means 'rithmetic and writing." Declared to readers on the very first page, this truth about freedom provokes thought. The wisdom of it unfolds as Lizzie's hunger to learn increases and the community's commitment remains undaunted.
Light in the Darkness: A Story about how Slaves Learned in Secret
The author explains that in her research for the book she was writing about Frederick Douglass, she came across a passage about pit schools. These "were essentially large holes dug deep in the ground and disguised with sticks and branches. In the dark of night, slaves would slip away from their plantations and meet to learn to read and right from another, literate slave...These slaves risked their lives to learn, trading injury and sometimes even death for letters and words. This book is a celebration of those who sought the light of knowledge during the darkness of slavery." The Children's Book Council named the illustrator one of 75 illustrators and authors everyone should know. It is not hard to see why.
Others books by this team of award-winning authors include Satchel Paige; Young Pele; Quilt Alphabet; Words Set me Free; The Story of Young Frederick Douglass; and Benny Goodman and Teddy Wilson.
Henry's Freedom Box:a True Story of the Underground Railroad by Ellen Levine
Throughout his years of suffering under slavery, Henry continues to dream about freedom. When he grows up to be an adult, he finally sees his way out while working at a warehouse lifting crates. He mails himself to freedom! Readers are brought into the drama of the constant danger he fears and the physical difficulties he endures.
The author's novel Darkness over Denmark: Danish Resistance and the Rescue of the Jews was a Jane Addams Peace Prize Honor Book in 2001. (Ages 9-14)
Minty by Alan Schroeder
When Harriet Tubman was a child she was called "Minty." In her childhood she already dreams of freedom and exhibits the bold, brave personality that will enable her to bring so many slaves to freedom on the Underground Railroad.
Lillian's Right to Vote by Jonah Winter
As Lillian, one-hundred-years old, walks to the polls, she remembers her African American family's history and "the long haul up that steep hill" that they climbed to achieve U.S. voting rights. She envisions the passage of the Fifteenth Amendment and her great-grandfather voting for the first time. She sees her parents trying to register to vote. And she sees herself marching in a protest from Selma to Montgomery with her strong will to make her voice heard.
The wife and husband team, Lesa Cline-Ransome (writer) and James E. Ransome (illustrator) have brought several picture book gems to readers.
Freedom's School.
In the beginning of this story, mama says, "Lizzie, bein' free means we got to work harder than every before. And I don't just mean in the field. Real freedom means 'rithmetic and writing." Declared to readers on the very first page, this truth about freedom provokes thought. The wisdom of it unfolds as Lizzie's hunger to learn increases and the community's commitment remains undaunted.
Light in the Darkness: A Story about how Slaves Learned in Secret
The author explains that in her research for the book she was writing about Frederick Douglass, she came across a passage about pit schools. These "were essentially large holes dug deep in the ground and disguised with sticks and branches. In the dark of night, slaves would slip away from their plantations and meet to learn to read and right from another, literate slave...These slaves risked their lives to learn, trading injury and sometimes even death for letters and words. This book is a celebration of those who sought the light of knowledge during the darkness of slavery." The Children's Book Council named the illustrator one of 75 illustrators and authors everyone should know. It is not hard to see why.
Others books by this team of award-winning authors include Satchel Paige; Young Pele; Quilt Alphabet; Words Set me Free; The Story of Young Frederick Douglass; and Benny Goodman and Teddy Wilson.
Henry's Freedom Box:a True Story of the Underground Railroad by Ellen Levine
Throughout his years of suffering under slavery, Henry continues to dream about freedom. When he grows up to be an adult, he finally sees his way out while working at a warehouse lifting crates. He mails himself to freedom! Readers are brought into the drama of the constant danger he fears and the physical difficulties he endures.
The author's novel Darkness over Denmark: Danish Resistance and the Rescue of the Jews was a Jane Addams Peace Prize Honor Book in 2001. (Ages 9-14)
Minty by Alan Schroeder
When Harriet Tubman was a child she was called "Minty." In her childhood she already dreams of freedom and exhibits the bold, brave personality that will enable her to bring so many slaves to freedom on the Underground Railroad.
Lillian's Right to Vote by Jonah Winter
As Lillian, one-hundred-years old, walks to the polls, she remembers her African American family's history and "the long haul up that steep hill" that they climbed to achieve U.S. voting rights. She envisions the passage of the Fifteenth Amendment and her great-grandfather voting for the first time. She sees her parents trying to register to vote. And she sees herself marching in a protest from Selma to Montgomery with her strong will to make her voice heard.
