Just in Time, Abraham Lincoln

Author & Illustrator:   Patricia Polacco
Publisher:  G.P. Putnam's Sons
Publication Year:   2011
Location: Knox County Public Library- Halls

Awards:   School Library Journal starred review

Summary:  Patricia Polacco combines time travel with a fictionalized accounting of Antietam, the bloodiest one day battle of the Civil War (23,000 dead & wounded). A grandmother takes her two world-weary grandsons on a "no electronics" trip to Harper's Ferry, West Virginia to a Civil War exhibit. The two boys try on some Union uniforms and then head off through a giant wooden door. On the other side, they find themselves in the middle of Antietam right after the battle in 1862. They accompany the photographer Matthew Brady and Abraham Lincoln as they visit the encampment and battlefield where thousands of soldiers fought. They tell Lincoln to stay strong, that one day a black man will become president, and they show him a 2007 penny. They run back to their own time and their grandmother who assures them that it was an reenactment....or was it?

Classroom Ideas: An addition to a class study of the Civil War.

Extras: Author's note explaining the realities of Antietam and the areas in which Polacco fictionalized the battle, Bibliography

January's Sparrow

Author & Illustrator: Patricia Polacco  
Publisher:  Philomel
Publication Year:   2009
Location: Knox County Public Library- Lawson McGhee

Awards:   SC School Book Award, Sequoyah Award, Charlotte Award,

Summary:  Eight year old Sadie "Sparrow" Crosswhite is a slave. She and her family watch in horror as a runaway slave, January, is drug into the year and whipped. Sadie is devastated as she remembers January giving her a carved sparrow when he told her that he was "fixin' to fly." After learning that the master was planning to auction of Sparrow's brother, her family flees on the Underground Railroad. They finally make it to Marshall, Michigan, where the whole town is part of the railroad. Sadie makes a new friend named Polly, but the family is still worried that the slave patrols are tracking them. One morning, Sadie's carved sparrow turns up on their doorstep and soon the master's soon and other trackers show up to drag the Crosswhite family away. The whole town rallies around them, but the white men quote the Fugitive Slave Act of 1793 that the family can be taken back to their rightful owner. January even shows up to back the family but they are brought in front of a judge, Polly's father -- who jails the men for attempting kidnapping so the family has time to flee to Canada. After the war, Sadie returns to Marshall for good. With Polacco's typical marker and pen sketches, this 94 page picture book tells a true story from the town where she lives. 

Classroom Ideas: Obviously there is a lot of historical content here about the Underground Railroad and slavery. There is vocabulary from the time period as well (paddy rollers= slave patrols that captured runaways). The story is told in slave dialect and contains many instances of figurative language ("You lovin' one of the white folks is like a dog lovin' the hickory what beats it.")

Pink and Say

Author & Illustrator:   Patricia Polacco
Publisher: Philomel
Publication Year:  1994
Location: Personal Collection

Awards:  Publisher's Weekly, School Library Journal, & Kirkus starred reviews; Irma S. and James H. Black Award, ALA Notable, National Council for Social Studies Notable, Horn Book Fanfare

Summary: In this true story from Polacco's family history, a white soldier Sheldon Russell Curtis (Say) is wounded and is rescued by a black soldier Pinkus Aylee (Pink). Pink takes Say back to his home where Pink and his mother Moe Moe Bay tend to him while he recovers. While Pink is anxious to return to the fighting, Say is scared and doesn't want to go. But when Moe Moe Bay is killed by marauders, the devastated boys set off. They are captured by Confederate troops and taken to Andersonville prison. Say is released months later, but Pink is hanged immediately because he is back. Say was Patricia's great-great-grandfather and in a touching epilogue she pledges that her book stands as memory of the life of Pinkus Aylee. This is my all-time favorite Polacco book and definitely on the list of my all-time favorite books ever. I dare you to read it without getting at least a little teary-eyed!

Classroom Ideas: Obviously this book can be shared during a study of the Civil War. The themes of loyalty and friendship here are strong and the book brings home the heartbreak of war.

Abe Lincoln's Dream

Author & Illustrator:   Lane Smith
Publisher:  Roaring Brook Press
Publication Year:   2012
Location: Knox County Public Library- Lawson McGhee

Awards:   featured on "Calling Caldecott" blog, Horn Book & School Library Journal starred reviews,

Summary:  Presidental scholars will immediately recognize the inclusion of Roosevelt, Johnson, and Reagan's dogs as they begin this story of a girl who goes on a White House tour and encounters Abraham Lincoln's ghost. The book deftly moves between silly jokes and serious questions as they discuss the issues ("Our union was so fragile, so uncertain. Like that ship on the rocky sea.") of union and equality that so plagued President Lincoln. The girl Quincy reassures Lincoln of the progress that has been made since his time. The Afterward explains Abraham Lincoln's reoccurring dream of himself in a ship moving toward a distant shore and also introduces the president dogs that are in the story. Lane use of a muted palette here fits the "historical" feel of the story and the typography looks like those used in newspapers of Lincoln's time. There are many pictorial references to history in the illustrations as well.

Classroom Ideas: Along with the obvious history curriculum connection, there are several uses of simile here. I wouldn't use this one to introduce Lincoln as you have to have some understanding of the issues he faced to get the story, but rather to enhance a study of his presidency.

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.