The Great Migration: Journey to the North

Author: Eloise Greenfield
Illustrator: Jan Spivey Gilchrist 
Publisher:  Amistad
Publication Year:   2011
Location: Knox County Public Library- Lawson McGhee

Awards:   Coretta Scott King Award honor, Booklist Editor's Choice, ALSC Notable

Summary:  These poems are a person account of Eloise Greenfield's family as they migrated north from North Carolina to Washington DC in the early 1900s. The poems are poignant, telling the story of saying goodbye to everything they knew and then trying to have a fresh start in a new place.  The illustrations are a beautiful collage of oil paintings and actual photographs.

Classroom Ideas: A welcome addition to any classroom study of Jim Crow laws and the civil rights movement.

Extras: An author's introduction that explains her family's story and a collected bibliography of other resources on the time period.

We are the Ship: Te Story of Negro League Baseball

Author & Illustrator:   Kadir Nelson
Publisher:  Hyperion
Publication Year:   2008
Location: Knox County Public Library- Powell

Awards:  Coretta Scott King Award, NYT Best Illustrated; Booklist, Publisher's Weekly, School Library Journal, Hornbook, & Kirkus starred reviews 

Summary:  This is a very text-heavy book that tells the history of Negro League baseball from its beginnings in the 1920s to the decline in the 1940s. The voice is that of someone who lived through the time period and is telling memories of the times. Each chapter is named for an inning in the game. The book is illustrated with breathtaking oil paintings that are reminiscent of Norman Rockwell's style. The emotion and affection for the game and the heroes of the League are evident in the beautiful paintings. My favorite is the full spread entitled "Night Game." 

Classroom Ideas: This book would be an excellent resource during the study of segregation and civil rights. I can see it appealing to many boys who love baseball and don't know as much about the history of the Negro League.

Extras: The book begins with quotations from famous players and a foreward by Hank Aaron. It ends with an author's note from Nelson about his interest and research along with a Bibliography and Index.

Underground

Author & Illustrator:   Shane W. Evans
Publisher:  Roaring Brook Press
Publication Year:   2011
Location: Knox County Public Library- Powell

Awards:   featured on "Calling Caldecott" blog, Coretta Scott King award, Publisher's Weekly, School Library Journal, & Kirkus starred reviews

Summary:  The story of the underground railroad is told here in a few simple sentences. The real focus is on the mixed-media illustrations. The contrast between dark and light is compelling in the collages, and the moment when the sun finally rises on the freed family is remarkable.

Classroom Ideas: This is a simple introduction to the underground railroad that would be appropriate for the early elementary grades.

Each Kindness

Author: Jacqueline Woodson
Illustrator:   E.B. Lewis
Publisher: Nancy Paulsen Books
Publication Year:  2012
Location: Knox County Public Library- Powell

Awards:   featured on the "Calling Caldecott" blog, Coretta Scott King honor book, Jane Addams Peace Award, Charlotte Zolotow Award, School Library Journal Best Book

Summary:  A new girl named Maya comes to school and Chloe and her friends are unkind to her because she is different. Even though Maya keeps trying, the other girls continue to make fun of her and leave her out. Finally, Chloe's teacher shows her the consequences of her choices, but it is too late because Maya and her family have moved away.

Classroom Ideas: This book could be used by a teacher or guidance counselor to discuss kindness and the consequences for actions. The theme is well articulated and includes a metaphor for kindness in a stone.

I Have a Dream

Author: Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Illustrator:   Kadir Nelson
Publisher:  schwartz & wade books
Publication Year:   2012
Location: Knox County Public Library- Powell

Awards:   Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor, Starred review Kirkus

Summary:  The familiar timeless words of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "dream" speech are beautifully illustrated with Nelson's oil paintings. The paintings are stately and striking. It's hard to choose a favorite, but I gasped at the two page spread of a sunrise in the mountains and loved the panels of the seasons across the country.

Classroom Ideas: Obviously, this would work for a classroom study of civil rights or to celebrate MLKJr. Day. There is also an LA objective about understanding the audience of a speech.

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.

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.