BEN AND THE EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION

Benjamin C. Holmes is a slave, apprenticed to a tailor in Charleston, South Carolina, just before the Civil War. Ben, unlike most slaves, knows how to read. His father has taught him a few letters, and now he uses every chance he can to practice- he reads the street signs, he sounds out the words on wagons and stores, and he finds a newspaper in the street and folds it to make a hat, then takes it home to practice his reading. His mother, who he is allowed to see once a year, tells him she will give him a dollar if he can learn to write.

When the Civil War breaks out, Ben is sent to a slave prison. The prisoners pool their tobacco to bribe a guard and get a copy of the newspaper and young Ben reads the Emancipation Proclamation aloud to his fellow prisoners. Illustrations are by Floyd Cooper, another one of my favorites (he has over sixty books- two I love are BROWN HONEY AND BROOMWHEAT TEA and MIZ BERLIN WALKS). Pair this book with MORE THAN ANYTHING ELSE or put it in your "Power of Literacy" or "Learning to Read" collection.

THE MOSTLY TRUE ADVENTURES OF HOMER P. FIGG- RODMAN PHILBRICK

Last weekend, my blogging friend Mary Lee (Year of Reading) was in town. I asked her about novels she had read recently, and she recommended THE MOSTLY TRUE ADVENTURES OF HOMER P. FIGG. On Monday, when I was at the library (notice I did not say bookstore!), I picked it up. I have to agree with Mary Lee, it's a good one.

Homer P. Figg is an orphan. He lives with his brother Harold Figg and a wicked step uncle, Squint, on a farm in Pine Swamp, Maine. After an unforunate incident involving pig slop, Squint becomes angry with the boys and finagles a deal so that Harold is conscripted into the Union Army, even though he is seventeen and not technically old enough to serve. Homer sets out to find his brother and bring him home. And so begin the adventures (or perhaps the misadventures) of Homer P. Figg…

In his hunt for his brother, Homer is captured by evil bounty hunters Smelt and Stink, meets Jebediah Brewster, a Quaker whose home is a station on the Underground Railroad, and travels as the "Pig Boy" with Professor Fenton Fleabottom, an elixir salesman with a few secrets of his own. His adventures (or misadventures) with these characters are funny and fun to read, but also include a great deal of information about life during the Civil War era.

A couple of parts toward the end felt a little forced and were a little hard to believe. Mostly, though, it's a really good read. I'd use HOMER P. FIGG in a unit on the Civil War, maybe in a text set with ELIJAH OF BUXTON. 

SEVEN MILES TO FREEDOM: THE ROBERT SMALLS STORY

AUTHOR: Janet Halfmann

ILLUSTRATOR: Duane Smith

Review copy provided by Lee and Low

Have you heard of Robert Smalls? I hadn't, at least not until I read this beautiful new biography. Now,  I can't wait to introduce to my students and my sons to Robert Smalls.

Smalls was born in the slave quarters of the McKee family plantation in Beaufort, South Carolina, in 1839. His mother was a house servant, and Robert soon began working in the house as well. He was smart and talkative, and quickly became Master McKee's favorite servant. As such, Robert had an easier life than most slaves. Even so, he witnessed the evils of slavery- cruel beatings, children sold on the whipping block, and families torn apart. He grew to despise slavery.

When Robert was 12, he was sent to Charleston to work in a hotel. He was fascinated by boats, and soon convinced Master McKee to allow him to work in the shipyards, where he sewed and rigged sails, and became known as one of the best boat handlers on the water. During this time, he also married Hannah Jones. When they had their first daughter, Elizabeth, Robert was saddened to realize that the child actually belonged to Hannah's owner. He determined that somehow he would earn $800 to buy his wife and child, so that the family would never have to worry about being torn apart. 

By the spring of 1861, the southern states had seceded from the Union, and the Civil War had begun. There was very little commercial boat traffic in or out of Charleston, so Robert took a job on the Planter, a 147-foot wood burning steamer. On May 12, 1862, Robert and other members of the crew boldly stole the ship, loaded with four Confederate cannons, used a rowboat to pick up their families, and sailed out of the harbor and past several Confederate forts, finally surrendering the boat and the four cannons to the Union navy. In an afterword, we learn that Smalls was later declared a national hero, and convinced Abraham Lincoln to allow African Americans to enlist in the Union army. He helped draft the constitution for the state of South Carolina, and served as a member of the United States congress. Unfortunately, he was also one of six African American delegates who refused  to sign an amendment to the state constitution when South Carolina repealed African American's right to vote in 1895.

This is a terrific story of an amazing Civil War hero. The illustrations, done by Duane Smith, are stunning, oil paintings in all hues of blue, turquoise, green, orange, and gold. The paintings are really different, lots of really broad brush strokes, with the details being done in different shades of the same color. It's hard to describe, but I could see art teachers using Smith's work to teach students about oil painting. This is Smith's first picture book, and he goes right under Kadir Nelson on my list of favorite illustrators.

A great book for African American history month, or a unit on the Civil War, or heroes, or bravery, or biographies…