Choosing a book can be very difficult. The library is full of great books but which ones do we want to read in our classroom. I am going to list three books that I plan on adding to my classroom library.
Aunt Harriet’s
Underground Railroad in the Sky by Faith Ringgold
Awards: Although the author herself has gained many awards
for several of her books, this book received the Jane Addams Children’s Book
Award for Picture Book in 1993.
This book employs a lot of imagination. It is written in first person narrative and
starts out with a young girl explaining that one day she and her baby brother
were flying among the starts. The pictures are painted without dimension as
though a child might have drawn it. Throughout it though, here and there, the
reader can see added details that make the artwork very unique. In the sky, the
two children find an old ramshackle train. At the door of the train stands a
woman, the conductor of the train. Around the train stand a multitude of
ghostly figures. The woman is calling these ghostly men, women, and children to
board the train, the train that is bound for Freedom.
The conductor finally introduces herself to the girl as
Harriet Tubman and a conductor on the Underground Railroad. She begins to tell
the young girl about slavery, the fear and the cruelty by those who suffered
under it as well as the price it took for freedom.
The dream quality seems to change and the girl is sucked into
the past. She must escape slavery and find her own way to freedom. Following
the North Star, the young girl escapes her plantation, hides in the safe home
of a young farmer couple, and then that of a blind woman’s. Along the way she
looks for clues and signs that the places she is going to truly are part of the
Underground Railroad. Some of the signs are songs of slavery and freedom. Some
are signs sown on to quilts or Show Away’s that point the way to freedom. The
girl faces many perils as she travels north to Freedom. She is always looking
over her shoulder for the bounty hunters who would take her back into slavery. The
story ends in celebration as the young girl enters the Canadian border and is
reunited with family and friends. They celebrate their freedom and those that
sacrificed so that they could have it.
This book would be a good addition to a lesson
during Black History month. It would be fun to use with a Web Quest that would
assign students different aspects of the Underground Railroad that they could
look up.
Show Way by
Jacqueline Woods
Awards:
This book received the John Newbery Medal Honor Book in 2006
Okay, this little picture book brought tears to my eyes. The story was about slavery and freedom. Instead of look at the
larger picture of those seeking freedom, this book looked at one family’s road
to freedom. It was about a family who rather than running away to find freedom,
provided those that came to them the map to freedom. The map was sown into
quilts called Show Way. As each daughter down the line was sold away into slavery,
they brought with them the tools and the knowledge to show the way to freedom
for those who sought escape. This was a heartwarming, heart-wrenching tell of
the cost of freedom.
As a teacher, I will be adding this book to my
collection. It will be a book that I will be reading to my students. I love the
heroism that I saw in this book and the selfless sacrifice. As far as a lesson
I will have to think more about it. This book would deserve something
special. I like the idea of a lesson on self-sacrifice but I would have to also
work that into some of my standards.
Blackout by
John Rocco
Awards:
·
Caldecott Honor
Book in 2012
·
Borders Original
Voices Award for Best Picture Book
·
Original Art Show
in Society of Illustrators
·
New York Times
Best Book of the Year
What happens when the
lights go out? In this book we get to watch a busy family’s reaction to a
blackout. They light candles and play. They then go up to the rooftop and see
all the stars. They are amazed by these beautiful natural lights. They
then go outside where the fire department has opened the pipes to let the kids
play. A block party has ensued as families seek relief from the heat.
A lesson with this book would be science connected. I would
read this book as a connection with how light travels and what might affect the
lights.
Harry and
Hopper by Margaret Wild
Awards: 2010 Greenaway Medal Winner
This is a very sad book. It is about a
young boy and his dog. The boy plays every day with his dog. They run, hide,
play catch and love each other. The dog Hopper sleeps with his little boy every
night. An accident though takes place and Hopper is killed. Harry does not know
how to say goodbye. He dreams about hopper every night until he is finally
able to tell him goodbye.
I would probably not make a lesson out of this book. On the
other hand, I think that it would be a great book to include in a classroom
library to help kids who are going through loss.
