Recommended Picture Books for Black History Month, Part One

Just in time for Black History Month come three excellent picture books which help teachers discuss the experiences of Black Americans by examining both well- and little-known real life events.

My personal favorite of the three titles featured here is Let Them Play. One reason is that it shared a story I hadn't heard before. But what made more of an impression upon me was the reminder that not even children were immune from the racism of 1950s America. Written by Margot Theis Raven and illustrated by Chris Ellison, Let Them Play is the story of the Cannon Street YMCA All-Stars, an all-black team from Charleston, South Carolina with dreams of becoming Little League World Champions.

But what happens when every other team in the sixty-two leagues of South Carolina refuses to play them, going so far as to drop out of Little League to form their own white-only leagues? When the boycott spreads to eleven Southern states, the Cannon Street All-Stars become "the team nobody would play." How can they advance to the World Series in Williamsport if they don’t play a single game?

This book will become a class favorite, one which your students will want to talk about, research, and read more than once. SPOILER ALERT: I highly recommend you visit the site to read more details concerning this little-known event in youth sports, but skip this if you'd rather read the outcome for yourself. (Looking for companion titles? Willie and the All-Stars by Floyd Cooper and Just Like Josh Gibson, written by Angela Johnson and illustrated by Beth Peck, are my immediate suggestions).

Pappy's Handkerchief, written by Devin Scillian and illustrated by Chris Ellison, relates the story of the Oklahoma Land Run and the lesser-known opportunity it provided for many recently freed slaves to finally own land. Through the eyes of one fictitious family, Pappy's Handkerchief tells the tale of hundreds of black families who came to the Territory seeking their dreams. Staking a claim required both risk and sacrifice, and not every family was up to the challenge. But those who dared to chase their dream (literally!) helped to build a new state that would at one time boasted more all-black towns than any other state. Scillian’s word choice is exacting, while Ellison’s paintings bring to life the historical era. Teachers can download a teaching guide containing guiding questions as well as activities which can be adapted by age and grade level.

One interesting extension activity is to see how some residents of Oklahoma (Oklahomans?) reenacted this event in 2007. Students might write about one event from their state's history which is, or should be, reenacted to celebrate its historical significance.

You can also contrast what children learn in Pappy's Handkerchief to Hollywood's representation of that same event. In the Tom Cruise film Far and Away we see not even one black American at the Oklahoma Land Run, although we do catch a glimpse of the Native Americans whose land this once was. (Are you as shocked as I am that we can't trust Hollywood to get history right?).

Most elementary children at one time or another study the Underground Railroad, but few realize that its conductors were ordinary people like themselves: men, women, and children willing to risk their own freedom to help others (the Fugitive Slave Act made it a crime for anyone, even whites, to help escaping slaves). In Friend on Freedom River, written by Gloria Whelan and illustrated by Gijsbert van Frankenhuyzen, young Louis must choose whether to help a runaway family cross the icy Detroit River to freedom in Canada. Although his father has done this many times before, Father is away up north and the night is colder than any other Louis has ever experienced. This book puts faces on a part of our history which really needs to be seen from a personal perspective to be fully appreciated. Be sure to check out the downloadable teacher's guide from Sleeping Bear Press.

In studying the Underground Railroad I'd also highly recommended several interactive sites including National Geographic's The Underground Railroad, Scholastic's Underground Railroad: Escape From Slavery (supported with a teacher's guide as well as printable pdfs for students), and an Interactive Map from Edupace.com. Thinkport's terrific Pathways to Freedom: Maryland and the Underground Railroad contains loads of activities which can be completed both online and off (if you're unfamiliar with Thinkport, check out a recent post from my How to Teach a Novel blog).

I highly recommend these three gorgeous books for your home or classroom library. Sleeping Bear Press has generously offered one copy of each which they'll ship directly to three lucky readers of Teach with Picture Books. To enter, email me by 11:00 PM EST, this Wednesday, February 3rd. Simply write "Black History Books" in subject line, and you're all set. You can include your whole address if you're feeling especially lucky!

Remembering Those Who Served

According to the Veterans Day Teacher Resource Guide offered to schools by the United States Department of Veteran Affairs,

In 1954, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed a bill proclaiming November 11th as Veterans Day and called upon Americans everywhere to rededicate themselves to the cause of peace. He issued a Presidential Order directing the head of the Veterans Administration, now the Department of Veterans Affairs, to form a Veterans Day National Committee to organize and oversee the national observance of Veterans Day.

This Wednesday, November 11th, we as teachers must remind our students of the selfless service and sacrifice demonstrated by the men and women of America's Armed Forces. For this honored occasion, I recommend three special picture books.

Award winning Heroes, written by Ken Mochizuki and illustrated by Dom Lee, is one of my favorites for initiating discussions around this observance.

Japanese American schoolboy Donnie is tired of playing the bad guy every time he and his friends get together. He'd rather play football, but they're only interested in playing war. And according to the other boys, Donnie should play the enemy because he does, after all, look like "them." Donnie futilely protests that his father and uncle served their country, the United States, but his friends just laugh. When Donnie pleads with his father and uncle for proof, they tell him that "real heroes don't brag." The story's ending is unexpected and noble, and each year when I share this book aloud, the reaction is incredible.

New York Times called Heroes "dignified and effective." Kirkus Reviews stated, "Heroes is also a tribute to the 442nd Regiment Combat Team, an all-Japanese-American regiment, and serves as a reminder of their important contribution."

I strongly recommend that Heroes find a place in every classroom library. Publisher Lee and Low have provided a helpful teacher's guide at their site containing many cross-curricular ideas for use with this book.

A newer book for me, but one that is just as powerful, is America's White Table by Margot Theis Raven, illustrated by Mike Benny.

From the Sleeping Bear Press site:

The White Table is set in many mess halls as a symbol for and remembrance to service members fallen, missing, or held captive in the line of duty. Solitary and solemn, it is the table where no one will ever sit.

As a special gift to her Uncle John, Katie and her sisters are asked to help set the white table for dinner. As their mother explains the significance of each item placed on the table Katie comes to understand and appreciate the depth of sacrifice that her uncle, and each member of the Armed Forces and their families, may be called to give.

The ceremony of the America's White Table is beautifully described in this book; not just what each object is, but what it is meant to represent. The book's narrator then finds even more meaning in this tradition upon learning that her own uncle, "who gave us big bear hugs and spun us with airplane twirls" was a prisoner of war in Vietnam before the nieces were ever born.

Another Sleeping Bear title that should be mentioned is H Is for Honor: A Military Family Alphabet. Written by the son of a soldier, this book explores the many branches of the Armed Forces, speaking of both the privileges and sacrifices of military families everywhere. Many aspects of military life are discussed, in both poem and sidebar explanatory text. Like all Sleeping Bear alphabet books, every page has a beautiful full-page illustration.

For example, the poem on the letter "A" page reads:

"Give me an A for Army, and an A for Air Force, too.
An A for all the Armed Services behind the red, white, and blue.
They stand at attention, tall and proud, all impeccably dressed.
An A for the American Armed Forces, an A for the world's very best."

The sidebar begins:

"The Armed Services of the United States protect our nation, its people, and its ideals. There are five branches that make up the United States military.

The U.S. Army is the main ground force for the United States. It's the largest and oldest branch of the service, founded in 1775...."

In my class, we have written letters to those presently serving in the armed forces. That is, I know, a common activity in many schools. I would also suggest perhaps using a sites such as Instant Poetry Forms to write a poem following the sharing of Veterans Day picture Books. Either the Instant Spine Poem or the Cinquain would provide a simple yet effective format for the poem.

I would also encourage every teacher to download the incredible Veterans Day Teaching Kit mentioned at the beginning of this post. It contains fabulous information and activities, including the Difference Between Veterans Day and Memorial Day:

Many people confuse Memorial Day and Veterans Day. Both holidays were established to recognize and honor the men and women who have worn the uniform of the United States Armed Forces. But Memorial Day, which is observed on the last Monday in May, was originally set aside as a day for remembering and honoring military personnel who died in the service of their country, particularly those who died in battle or as a result of wounds sustained in battle.

While those who died are also remembered on Veterans Day, which is observed on November 11, Veterans Day is intended to thank and honor all those who served honorably in the military - in wartime or peacetime. In fact, Veterans Day is largely intended to thank living Veterans for their service, to acknowledge that their contributions to our national security are appreciated, and to underscore the fact that all those who served - not only those who died - have sacrificed and done their duty.

The site also contains a link to an archive of Veterans Day posters which can be printed out or used in other applications. These well designed, powerful images should be posted prominently in every school.

Book Giveaway: Although you won't have it in time for this year's observance, Sleeping Bear Press has generously offered a copy of America's White Table to three readers of this blog. Just email me with "White Table Drawing" in the subject line, and we'll pick some winners in the next two weeks.

The Listeners: Remembering the Past by Celebrating the Present

The Listeners
by Gloria Whelan

Universal Themes:
Conflict Resolution, Courage, Heroism, Identity, Integrity, Problem Solving

On September 22, 1862, President Abraham Lincoln declared the freedom of all slaves in any state of the Confederate States of America that did not return to Union control by January 1, 1863. Today we encourage students to celebrate Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation with Gloria Whelan's excellent new picture book The Listeners, published by Sleeping Bear Press.

In addition to their tasks of picking cotton, taking cows to pasture, and caring for the babies, Ella May and her friends are entrusted with the most most important job of all: that of crouching beneath Master's window each evening to collect information that the slaves on the plantation otherwise wouldn't hear. Which slaves are being sent away? Who's the new overseer that Master is hiring? What's that about a new president, and why are Master Thomas's words about him coming out "as mean as rattlesnakes"?

I loved this book, so I took a big chance. This year, after teaching third grade for nine years and fourth grade for thirteen, I moved up to sixth grade Reading and Language Arts. While I've always preached about the benefits of using picture books with the upper grades, I never before had to "put my money where my mouth is." So for my first picture book experience with my new sixth graders (three sections of 65 students total), I chose The Listeners.

In short, the book delivered. Students were turned on to the picture book experience.

The beautiful artwork and language of The Listeners complement each other perfectly (so much so that one student was convinced that the author was also the illustrator, so in tune were the paintings to the words on the page). My students especially enjoyed Whelan's use of metaphor, personification, and similes, such as "we make ourselves small as cotton seeds and quiet as shadows." This book helped my students realize that picture books can truly serve as "mentor texts," providing students with models for their own writing. Students discovered that what an author chooses to leave out becomes just as important as what she chooses to leave in.

Like every Sleeping Bear Press title from the Tales of Young Americans Series, this book is well researched and age-appropriate, while not being dumbed down in either language or content. (Another Young Americans title I previously recommended on this blog was Ann E. Burg's Rebekkah's Journey , a meticulously researched historical fiction picture book which describes President Franklin D. Roosevelt's plan to shelter 1000 Jews in upstate New York).

Teachers and parents will be delighted to know that this title (like other Sleeping Bear titles I've mentioned in previous posts) is accompanied by a free, pdf format teaching guide. The book is recommended for ages 6-10, but many of the activities can be adapted for use with older audiences.

For more information on the author and illustrator, visit the Sleeping Bear site. While there, be sure to also check out Sleeping Bear's mind-boggling variations on the picture book. Something for everyone, at every level!