"Watch the Stars Come Out" by Riki Levinson

Today, I read Riki Levinson's simple tale of immigration to my third graders as part of an official launch to our exploration of Historical Fiction.  We searched Diane Goode's comforting illustrations for evidence of historical differences and discussed the family's lack of hot water and variations in transportation and clothing between this time period and our own.  Most of all, I tried to engage the students in the trials and treasures of a young girl's entry to the United States.

I have always enjoyed this lovely story of immigration and have found it to be an effective and affecting read-aloud.  As an ardent fan of Diane Goode, I was first attracted to the book for its warm and emotive illustrations.  Soon I was hooked by Levinson's lyrical tone and deep emotions of reunion and hope.  This book became a favorite bedtime story for my children.  Told from a young girl's point of view, "Watch the Stars Come Out"  provides comforting bookend images of children happy and safe with adults watching the stars come out in the darkening nighttime sky.  In the pages in between, we learn of the twenty-three day journey of a young girl and her brother from Europe to New York around the turn of the last century.  We feel the hardships of the passage, share the excitement of spotting the Statue of Liberty, catch a glimpse of Ellis Island health inspections, and finally feel the comfort of reunion with long separated parents.  My students were hooked.  Shortly after I read the penultimate page - "I watched the stars come out - one, two, three"  - I ended the story, closed the book and ... my students broke into applause!   Now, that's rewarding feedback on a read-aloud.  Wonderful!

"Sojourner Truth: Ain't I A Woman" by Patricia C. McKissack and Frederick McKissac

Sojourner Truth was a self-made, deeply spiritual advocate for equal rights who lived in dignity as a slave and a free woman.  In her mid-forties, she renamed herself and began traveling the country as an evangelizing abolitionist.

Isabella Van Wagener was born into slavery in New York State in about 1797.  In the unlit, unventilated cellar of their Dutch-speaking owners, “Belle” grew up listening to her parents weep as they remembered the ten older siblings who had perished in the brutal living conditions or been sold away by the slave owners.  With her mother’s deep spirituality as sustenance, Belle endured her sale at the age of eleven to an abusive owner and two subsequent sales over the next two years.  She learned to speak English, married another slave, and mothered five children on this farm until running away from her owner in 1826 after he reneged on a promise to free her.  She took refuge in the home of the Van Wageners, a nearby Quaker family who then bought her freedom.  In retribution for Belle’s departure, her former owner sold her five-year-old son into permanent slavery in Alabama.  In one of the earliest U.S. cases of a black woman bringing a suit against a white man, Belle successfully fought her son’s sale in court. 

New York State emancipated slaves in 1827 and Belle moved to New York City.  There, she discovered that two of her older siblings were members of her church and that another sibling had recently died.

“Belle shrieked in surprise.  She knew the woman as one of the elderly mothers of the church.  They had prayed beside each other at the altar and sung hymns together.  They never knew they were sisters.  ‘Here she was,’ Belle told her biographer with tears streaming down her face.  ‘We met; and was I not, at the time, struck with the peculiar feeling of her hand – the bony hardness so just like mine?  And yet, I could not know she was my sister; and now I see she looked so like my mother….  What is this slavery,’ Belle asked, ‘that it can do such dreadful things?”

On June 1, 1843 Belle had a vision to “Go East” and walked out of the city onto Long Island.  That day, she renamed herself Sojourner Truth to identify herself as someone who would spend her lifetime traveling as an evangelist whose “only master I have now is God and His name is Truth.”  She told her personal story as testimony against slavery.  “All her life Sojourner had been a victim of oppression, despised because of her race, and disregarded because of her sex.  It was out of the fog of this life that she emerged at age forty-six, dedicated to the elimination of human suffering.  She would speak out against slavery!”  Truth dictated her biography, The Narrative of Sojourner Truth, in 1850.  The following year, this illiterate former slave gave the speech for which she is most renowned.  “Ain’t I a woman?” she challenged repeatedly, bravely asserting that sexism and racism contradicted the principles of American equality and justice. 

The McKissacks’ thorough and inspiring biography is appropriate for older elementary students.  The clearly written narrative is organized into manageable chapters and supported by photographs, illustrations, and other relevant graphics.  In studying Sojourner Truth, students also learn about other key figures in the American abolitionist and suffrage movements. Truth worked with or met Frederick Douglass, Abraham Lincoln, Harriet Tubman, William Lloyd Garrison, and Susan B. Anthony.   Understanding Truth’s biography serves to broaden students’ knowledge of American slavery by highlighting Sojourner Truth’s bondage in a northern rather than a southern state, the wide scope and lengthy efforts of the abolitionist movement, and the vigorous activism of freed and runaway African Americans.

Sojourner Truth, Denmark Vesey, and the Amistad case have been longtime interests and inspirations for me.  Growing up in Connecticut near the Harriet Beecher Stowe house and museum, I was focused on the history of abolition from as early as third grade.  Upon reading The Narrative of Sojourner Truth in middle school, I traveled to Northampton  http://www.historic-northampton.org/highlights/truth.html

to visit historical sites associated with Truth.  I also charted the nearby Farmington, CT homes that had housed the Amistad Africans, and searched encyclopedias (often fruitlessly in this pre-Internet era) for information on the slave rebellions of Denmark Vesey, George Boxley, and Nat Turner.  Although they took widely disparate paths, I have always been particularly moved by Truth and Vesey and their activism and selflessness in trying to free enslaved Americans.  Truth’s story is accessible and appropriate for early elementary and even preschool audiences.  Anne Rockwell's Only Passing Through  and Catherine Clinton's When Harriett Met Sojourner  were regular read-alouds in our preschool.  I am not yet aware of an elementary level text about Denmark Vesey but David Robertson's 2000 biography is a comprehensive and dispassionate account of Vesey's suppressed rebellion.  It might prove accessible for more advanced and mature student readers.  

I often wonder about the committee meetings that determine which few iconic Americans will be included in curriculum standards.  I envision the debate and consternation when changes in this elite list are proposed and must certainly acknowledge that prominent contributors to American democracy are far too numerous to include in any concise educational guidelines.  However even with these caveats, I would like to make an impassioned plea to the power players of history curriculum standards to make room for Sojourner Truth.  I would politely listen to the proponents of Betsy Ross and nod with understanding when they explain the symbolic importance of her one-month financial contract to sew the first American flag.  But then I would simply offer the clear evidence of Sojourner Truth’s five decades of activism, laboring to attain common decency and basic human rights for disenfranchised American citizens.  Sojourner Truth endured unspeakable hardship and tragedy to advocate for the rights of African Americans and women.  Her personal story exemplifies the perseverance and lofty vision that characterize the iconic American character.  Sojourner Truth merits study, admiration, and appreciation.  She should – and must – be remembered.

"How I Came to Be a Writer" by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor

Creativity and drive are elusive traits, perhaps glimpsed in early childhood activities or blossoming later in university but often difficult to trace back to early development and initial inspirations.  Authors’ memoirs offer readers the opportunity to glimpse these origins, not only of the technician but also of the creator of worlds and characters who become part of our own experiences. Phyllis Reynolds Naylor, best known for her Shiloh series, shares her personal history in How I Came to Be a Writer, written when she was 54 years old.  In this personal narrative, Naylor remembers early life landscapes and towns that share some connections with the characters and setting of her 1992 Newbery Medal Award winner. 

Born into the struggles of the Great Depression, Naylor found refuge in books.  They were her literary entertainment as well as her building block toys.  Naylor recalls her kindergarten writing experiences when, in a 1930s version of Writing Workshop, she would sit in the middle of the floor next to her teacher and dictate stories.  Happily, Naylor includes one of these earliest efforts (a decapitation tale!) in her highly enjoyable book.   Clear-eyed and often with a keen sense of humor, Naylor tells of her focused pursuit of a writing career in the face of poverty, familial mental illness, and repeated rejections. 

Unlike Spilling Ink, How I Came to Be a Writer does not instruct readers about how to write but instead provides a vivid backdrop to the influences in Phyllis Reynolds Naylor’s life.  I was particularly struck by Naylor’s honesty in confessing that “writing a book frightened me [because] I thought I would be bored with it long before I was through….  What if halfway through I discovered that I simply could not stand the people I was writing about?”  I certainly can understand that the commitment to writing a book must sometimes feel overwhelming but I do not recall having read an author explicitly express such thoughts. 

Upper elementary students will enjoy Naylor’s memoir as a companion to the Shiloh trilogy and as a resource when researching authors’ backgrounds.  Naylor’s personal photographs create a direct connection with her readers and her prose is accessible to young children without feeling trite or overly simplified.  She did not achieve success easily or without personal setbacks.  She persevered through numerous rejections and pushed through her fear of boredom.  Thank goodness.  Without her drive, Naylor would never have created one of children’s literature most enduring treasures, the tale of a kind boy extending himself to rescue an abused and frightened animal.

"Life in the Boreal Forest" by Brenda Z. Guiberson

Brenda Z. Guiberson’s profile of the great northern hemisphere forest sings, crackles, and growls.

“Plish, ploosh! A loon dives for minnows and leeches.”

“Pitpatpat, the hare packs down easy trails with her huge snowshoe feet.”

Life in the Boreal Forest is a feast for the ear as well as the eye.  Guiberson includes rich auditory textures in describing the intricate web of life that lives in these vast but diminishing forests.  Her language transforms a comprehensive description of a habitat into an engaging and melodic read.  This beautiful book focuses on the wildlife that inhabits the snowy forests of Russia, Canada, Alaska, and Scandanavia..  Young children will enjoy the glorious paintings and their vivid depictions of animals and habitats.  A closer look at the art reveals animals hidden in the underbrush, in trees, or perhaps clutched in the talons of a swooping owl.  Older students can use this detailed text as a resource when researching global ecosystems and can make productive use of the end-notes, including a map of the world's boreal forests and information about deforestation and conservation. 

Author of more than a dozen non-fiction books for children, Guiberson was honored with a 2010 NCTE Orbis Pictus Honor for Life in the Boreal Forest, recognition of "outstanding nonfiction for children."  On http://www.brendazguiberson.com/, she shares her personal interest in and connection with nature and that the source of her inspiration is her innate curiosity: "I write for the child in me, the one who thrives on adventure and surprises, on learning new things, on understanding and being understood."  Guiberson advises aspiring young authors to "explore, and look closely."  Perhaps, a walk in the forest would provide student writers with such an opportunity as well as a comparison point to the animals and landscapes of the world's boreal forests.

"The Grand Mosque of Paris" by Karen Gray Ruelle and Deborah Durland DeSaix

The Grand Mosque of Paris: A Story of How Muslims Rescued Jews During the Holocaust by Karen Gray Ruelle and Deborah Durland DeSaix

Even in the midst of wartime horror and human atrocity, examples of altruism and compassion exist.  The Grand Mosque of Paris relates such a tale of human connection and kindness in Nazi-occupied Paris.  As in other German-controlled European countries during World War II, the Jewish citizens of occupied France faced grave peril.  “In France 11,402 Jewish children, toddlers, and even tiny babies, were deported to death camps.  Only about three hundred of them survived the war.”  Some French citizens hid their Jewish neighbors and worked to smuggle them out of France to safety. 

This richly illustrated picture book tells the role of Algerian-born Si Kaddour Benghabrit, rector of the Grand Mosque of Paris.  With his staff, the rector hid Jews within the mosque and in the vast tunnels underneath its foundation.  The Kabyle people from the Atlas Mountains of Algeria were the majority Muslim population in Paris.  They spoke a distinct language that they used to communicate as a form of code.  The Kabyles organized a complex operation to transport Nazi opponents out of France.  The Grand Mosque was a Kabyle station where French Jews waited until safe escort could be arranged through its catacombs and out to the banks of the Seine.  Refugees were then hidden in huge wine barrels and smuggled away on transport barges to safety. 

The Grand Mosque of Paris is a print-rich text that would prove a valuable resource for upper elementary students.  Ruelle and DeSaix have included extensive detail and background notes that allow for further study.  Much of this tale remains lost to history.  Participants have now perished and records were not maintained during the operation in order to protect the identities of the rescued and rescuers alike.  The authors include one telling artifact unearthed in their research.  Written in Kabyle, the letter states:

 “Yesterday at dawn, the Jews of Paris were arrested.  The elderly, the women, and the children.  In exile like ourselves, workers like ourselves.  They are our brothers.  Their children are like our own children.  Anyone who encounters one of his children must give that child shelter and protection for as long as misfortune – or sorrow – lasts.

Oh man of my country, your heart is generous.” 

"One Giant Leap" by Robert Burleigh

Robert Burleigh’s One Giant Leap is a wonder.  Edge-of-the-seat suspense and lyrical, exquisitely-crafted language transport the reader alongside Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin on July 20, 1969 as they descend to the surface of the moon:

“The Eagle dips.  Hovers.  Zigs.  Zags.

Dances over its own shadow.

The seconds tick toward eternity.  Time stops….

An endless, mysterious wasteland,

Whose distant hills are as sharply outlined as nearby stones.

No water. No wind.  No sound.”

Mike Wimmer’s paintings create intriguing perspectives and also feature casual personal portraits of the astronauts completing their work inside the capsules and on the lunar surface.   Burleigh's narrative focuses on small details that shed new light on mankind’s most famous footstep.  Kangaroo-hops and flag planting may be well-known but have you ever considered the scent of the lunar surface?

“This world is not theirs.  Not their own.

Streaks of dirt cover their spacesuits.

The smell of the moondust hits them as they remove their helmets.

“Like spent cap pistols,” they tell each other.”

As the astronauts make their last orbit of the moon, they crowd the portholes to snap a few pictures of the moon’s “billion-year-old landscape.”   Burleigh asks “Can a photo capture the wonder of what they’ve seen?  Not likely.”  I ask, “Can a picture book capture the intensity and monumental accomplishment of human’s first visit to the moon?”  “Absolutely.”  Any elementary, middle, or high school lesson on space exploration will certainly be enhanced by this poetic and gloriously written book.

"How Many Baby Pandas?" by Sandra Markle

A charming informational text organized as a counting book, How Many Baby Pandas? takes readers through the development stages of a panda from birth until it is weaned at eighteen months.  Along the way, award-winning author Susan Markle answers eight essential questions about pandas in the wild and in captivity:  “How does a mother panda care for its young?”  “How do people help baby pandas grow healthy in captivity?”  “What do pandas eat?”  Italicized words correspond to the glossary and text boxes emphasize key panda details such as birth weight, diet, and the fact that baby giant pandas do not open their eyes until they are about two months old.  Large red colored numbers and questions frame playful and interesting photographs of pandas at Wolong Giant Panda Breeding Center in Sichuan, China.  End-notes include a glossary, index, map of the panda’s natural range, resource list, and additional information on the 2008 Sichuan earthquake’s impact on the Wolong Center.  The book is appropriate for a wide range of readers.  Young children will be naturally drawn to the beautiful photographs as well as the counting challenge and older readers will be able to use the numerous facts for research purposes.

Pandas are highly engaging, adorable animals and this photo-illustrated text fully capitalizes on their appeal to promote a strong message of wildlife conservation and the importance of breeding endangered animals in captivity.  In response to the title question: “How many baby pandas live wild and free?” Markle writes “Not enough.”   The final photograph features staff members of the Wolong Center holding sixteen panda cubs born in 2005.  It’s a hopeful message of a brighter future for one of the world’s most visible and beloved endangered species.