On these blog pages, we will talk about the books we read, the books we want to read, the books we know you love to read, and our bookclubs. Please be a voice with us. Let's talk about BOOKS!!!!
Monday, February 29, 2016
The students at Stocking School were able to learn about some less known African-Americans in Portraits of African-American Heroes by Tonya Bolden. This book touches on the lives of twenty African-Americans, giving enough information to draw you in to want to learn more about each of them. ~Deb
A Picture Book Of Jesse Owens by David Adler paints a sublime picture of the life of Jesse Owens. It covers everything from his life as a child to his death in 1980. It tells how he came to be known as Jesse and of the obstacles he had to overcome. This book will inspire you to learn more about the man, Jesse Owens.
Monday, February 22, 2016
Virginia Hamilton retells 24 black American folk tales in animal tales, supernatural tales, fanciful and cautionary tales, and slave tales of freedom. Published in 1985, awards include Coretta Scott King for Authors. Genres are Anthology and Children's literature. Students enjoy the tales.
Paul Dear
GR Montessori
Tuesday, February 16, 2016
Winter Friends by Mary Quattlebaum is a book of enjoyable winter-based poems. There are poems about winter breath to snow angels to active winter animals. It ends with
One thousand feet across the Ohio River lay Ripley, Ohio and freedom. Before the Civil War, Kentucky was a slave state,while Ohio remained free. A man named John Parker, an ex-slave, led Kentucky slaves across a stretch of river to their freedom. These journeys demanded a tremendous amount of courage, careful planning, and faith. Freedom River is based on a true story of one man's determination to help an African American family escape from slavery along the Underground Railroad. A good read for 4th grade and up.~ Mary Jo Fox
While searching the database and shelves for our library display for Black History Month, I came across some great books about or by Harlem Renaissance writers and artists.
One is called The Great Migration : An American Story with paintings by the very famous Harlem Renaissance artist Jacob Lawrence. His paintings chronicle the historic and heroic journey of blacks from the rural South to the North around WWI in search of work in factories. His 60 paintings series is held between two collections at the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the Phillips collection in Washington DC. This books pulls them together with a narrative telling a history of the Great Migration. It is a great way to also share the work of this renown artist.
I also found Gwen Everett's book John Brown, One Man Against Slavery with paintings by Jacob Lawrence.
Also found some great picture books about Harlem Renaissance writer and poet Langston Hughes. One is Langston's Train Ride by Robert Burleigh with illustrations by Leonard Jenkins. Another is Coming Home: from the Life of Langston Hughes by Floyd Cooper.
"Por favor, Dios, trata perdonar esas personas, Porque aunque ellos dicen esas cosas malas, No saben lo que hacen. Entonces, puedes perdonar ellos, Al igual que perdonaste la gente en el pasado lejano, Cuando ellos dijeron cosas horribles sobre tú."
The above words were my rough translation into Spanish of the prayer spoken by Ruby Bridges in the book, "The Story of Ruby Bridges", written by child psychiatrist and children's author Robert Coles and illustrated by George Ford. This wasn't a story we read during library time, since we are busy with standardized testing these past few weeks, but it was a story I read to my afterschool Loop class of 1st and 2nd graders this week. Because some of my Loop students are not proficient in English, I had to get some good practice (and unfortunately probably making a few mistakes!) trying to translate the gist of the story into Spanish for them. I have liked this book for several years, and I often read it to kids during Black History Month. The story is told in a way that makes the harsh realities of history understandable and palatable to young children. In a setting of injustice and hatred, the first grader Ruby stands tall as a symbol of hope and courage. You don't need to be 'black', 'white', 'brown', or purple with pink polka dots to appreciate this story and its lesson.
In parting, I'd like to share a video I watched with my Loop kids yesterday. It's a video of Ruby Bridges from 2010, being interviewed by a young student. It's good to show children that "the past" isn't just in the past, and that many of these figures who changed history are not just mythical characters from stories, but real people just like anyone else. I also really appreciate some of the things Ruby still has to say to us all even today.
Stanley is a dog, normally a good dog. But one day he tries to do something he knows he is not supposed to do and he gets away with it. The next day he tries to do another thing he is not supposed to do and gets away with it. On the third day he does another thing he knows he isn't supposed to do and he gets away with it again. Stanley then throws a party, will he get away with having a party?
The students at Stocking School were able to learn about some less known African-Americans in Portraits of African-American Heroes by Tonya Bolden. This book touches on the lives of twenty African-Americans, giving enough information to draw you in to want to learn more about each of them.
