The Lions of Little Rock

 

Levine, Kristin, and Annie B. Ericsson. The lions of Little Rock. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 2012. Print.

ISBN:   9780399256448

Audience: Ages  9-14, Grade 4-8

Summary: It’s 1958 in Little Rock, Arkansas, and twelve year old Marlee doesn’t talk – at least not to anyone outside her family. But then she meets Liz who is brave and stands up to the mean girls. When Liz is forced to leave school because she was a black girl passing as while, Marlee has to take on the community and danger in order to keep her best friend.

Strengths:  While the historical context of this story makes it perfect for 5th grade curriculum integration, there is so much more here. The main character is a fully realized girl. Marlee shows courage and growth throughout the story, and the relationships she forms are amazing. The theme of having the courage to stand up for what is right resonates just as strongly for current times as it does in the historic setting.  Levine doesn't sugarcoat the realities of integration, but she also draws people who are not just one-dimensional. 

Weaknesses:  There are some instances of discrimination and prejudice that could be upsetting to particularly sensitive readers. Some background knowledge of the time period would probably help to make the book most accessible for readers.

Uses:  The historical elements of the book make it perfect for the TN 5^th grade standards that have to do with segregation and civil rights, but it would also be a good read aloud for other grades that are studying black history. The characters are wonderfully drawn (CCSS ELA:RL.3 Grades K-6), and the story elements would be easily identifiable (CCSS ELA: RL.5 Grades 2-5). 

Read-alikes:

·      Goin’ Someplace Special – Patricia C. McKissack (A picture book about growing up in the segregated South.)

·      A Friendship for Today – Patricia C. McKissack (A novel about desegregation in Missouri.)

·      The Watsons Go to Birmingham – Christopher Paul Curtis (A Michigan family travels to Birmingham and gets caught up in a racially charged environment.)

·      Through My Eyes – Ruby Bridges (memoir of Ruby Bridges about becoming the first black student at an elementary school in Louisiana) 

·      Ruby Bridges (movie) – Disney film about the segregation story of Ruby Bridges

Awards: 

NYT Editor’s Choice Award

Other:   Starred reviews from Kirkus, Publisher’s Weekly, School Library Journal

Resources for Librarians & Teachers:

Reader’s Guide: http://www.us.penguingroup.com/static/images/yr/pdf/LionsLittleRock_ReaderComp.pdf

White Socks Only

Author: Evelyn Coleman
Illustrator:   Tyrone Geter
Publisher:  Albert Whitman & Co.
Publication Year:   1996
Location: Knox County Public Library- Lawson McGhee

Awards:   1996 Notable Book for Children, Smithsonian Magazine; Pick of the Lists, American Bookseller

Summary:  A story told by an African American woman in a form of dialect. A girl sneaks off to town by herself wearing her finest Sunday outfit, including white socks. She wants to find some cement so she can test out the saying "It could get so hot you could fry an egg on the sidewalk." As she's walking, she says a water fountain with a sign that says "Whites Only." She takes off her good black shoes and hops up to the fountain wearing only her clean white socks. Of course she get caught and gets yelled at, but other people from the town start to join her and it becomes an act of civil disobedience. Although she gets whipped by a man, the mysterious "Chicken Man" rescues her and sends her home where she's praised for "doing some good."

Classroom Ideas: Such a great example of dialect. ("And child, was it hot! On that kind of day a firecracker might light up by itself.")
Also, the figurative language here is amazing, and the descriptions are wonderful. If I was reading this with kids, I'd read the narrator's description of herself without letting them see the illustration and then have them draw her.
Obviously, the content fits perfectly with a discussion about segregation and Jim Crow laws. It is especially interesting to think about the awakening of children to the prejudice that was all around them and would be a great companion to the book Goin' Someplace Special.

Extras:

Duke Ellington

Author: Andrea Davis Pinkney
Illustrator:   Brian Pinkney
Publisher: Hyperion
Publication Year:   1998
Location:  Personal Collection

Awards:   Caldecott Honor, Coretta Scott King Award

Summary:  A biography of the musician Duke Ellington. It tells how young Edward Kennedy Ellington began playing the piano and how hearing ragtime music led him to become a jazz musician. The scratchboard technique used in the illustrations go perfectly with the mood of the story and the fanciful swirls of color that represent music are breathtaking.

Classroom Ideas: I used this book in my 5th grade classroom when we studied the 1920s Harlem Rennasaince and the influence of jazz on popular culture. It could also be used to study biography or black history and the word choice includes popular 1920s slang. The endnotes includes a more scholarly biography of Ellington and a list of sources that would be helpful to anyone researching his life.

Working Cotton

Author: Sherley Anne Williams
Illustrator: Carole Byard  
Publisher:  Harcourt Brace Jovanovich
Publication Year:   1992
Location: Knox County Public Library- Powell

Awards:   Caldecott Honor, Coretta Scott King Award

Summary:  The story of a family of migrant worker in the cotton fields in the 1930s. It's told in dialect. The acrylic illustrations fill the two page spreads and beautifully portray the realities of the story.

Classroom Ideas: This would fit well in a study of the 1930s or for Black History Month. While there are few words on each page, the dialect and subject matter make it most appropriate for upper elementary students who would likely have the academic background to understand it.

Smoky Nights

Author: Eve Bunting
Illustrator: David Diaz  
Publisher:  Harcourt Brace & Company
Publication Year:   1994
Location: Personal Collection

Awards:   Caldecott Medal, ALA Notable, School Library Journal Best Book of the Year, Parent's Choice Award Winner

Summary:  Daniel and his mother watch during the Los Angeles riots and are forced to flee as their building begins to burn.  They discover that their cat and that of their Korean neighbor are both missing.  The community gathers in a shelter to escape the fire and the looting and the cats are found. The book does touch on sensitive subjects, but it ends hopefully with the two cats teaching the humans a lesson about getting along. Diaz's collage art is incredible incorporating real objects with paintings.

Classroom Ideas: This book could be used in a discussion about late 20th century history and riots. It also touches on problem solving and tolerance for difference. An art teacher could use it talk about collage.

Tar Beach

 

Author & Illustrator:  Faith Ringold
Publisher:  Crown Publishers
Publication Year:  1991
Location: Knox County Public Library- Powell

Awards:  Parent's Choice Award, Caldecott Honor, Coretta Scott King Award, Reading Rainbow Feature Selection, New York Time Best Illustrated Book


Summary: Cassie Louise Lightfoot, an eight year old who lives in the New York City dreams of flying over the city. She imagines being able to claim it as hers and being free to belong anywhere she goes. The combination of painting and quilt-making makes for exquisite illustrations that invite the reader to examine them in great detail.

Classroom Ideas:  Set in the 1930s, this book would be an excellent resource for teachers to introduce the ideas of prejudice and the problems of immigrants. My 3rd grade daughter used this book as an inspiration in art class for a quilting project.