BILLIE HOLIDAY AND LENA HORNE

Today, on Martin Luther King Day, it seems appropriate to review two picture book biographies. These women are well-known entertainers, but perhaps they should  more famous for their roles in the Civil Rights movement. 

"Somebody once said
we never know what is enough
until we know what's 
more than enough."

Gary Golio's picture book, STRANGE FRUIT: BILLIE HOLIDAY AND THE POWER OF A PROTEST SONG is definitely a picture book for older readers. Billie Holiday lived a sad, sad life. As a baby, she was left with an older half sister for years. At ten, she ended up in a reform school because something was done to her. When she was 14, she moved to NYC to live with her mother, and they both ended up in jail. Billie  knew she wanted to be a singer. She sang at small clubs around New York, and then was booked for larger engagements. She endured much protest, not being able to walk around in the clubs, having to use the service elevators, having to sleep on the tour bus.

Billie finally ended up at the Cafe Society, a club created especially for blacks by Barney Josephson. At the Cafe Society, Barney was contacted by Abel Meeropol, a Jewish teacher from the Bronx. Meeropol, outraged by a photo of a lynching, wrote the song "Strange Fruit. Barney Josephson thought that the song was important, and asked Billie to sing it. Here is a link to a recording of Billie Holiday singing "Strange Fruits."

End matter includes "What Happened Next" as well as a biography of Billie Holiday. Charlotte Riley-Webb's oil illustrations are colorful and strong and vibrant.

LEGENDARY MISS LENA HORNE by Carole Boston Weatherford

collage illustrations by Elizabeth Zunon

As an African American entertainer, Lena Horne was:
not allowed to eat or sleep at the places where she was the headline entertainer

• banned from bandstand between numbers
• refused service by restaurants
• refused rooms by hotels
• forced to sleep on the tour bus
• introduced as Cuban rather than African American.
• Blacklisted by the house Un-American Activities Committee

During World War II, Lena paid her own way to sing for black troops. At that event, the German POW's were seated in front of the African American soldiers

MGM offered her the first ever contract as a black actress, but the NAACP wanted her to take a stand, and Lena refused to play the role of maids or mammies. Ultimately, she was cast mostly in singing roles that could be easily edited out in the South.

She appeared with Medgar Evers and sang "This Little Light of Mine." He was killed just a few days later.

At the I HAVE a Dream Speech she spoke one word into the microphone- FREEDOM!

These women's fight for freedom is definitely one our students should know about!

FREEDOM OVER ME- ASHLEY BRYAN

It happens pretty much every year that I am a CYBILS judge. There's one book that I love, love, love, that doesn't make the final cut. It was true again this year. One of my favorite books, Ashleyy Bryan's FREEDOM OVER ME, was talked about a lot, but didn't make the final cut.

In the author’s notes, Bryan says, “Many years ago, I acquired a collection of slave-related documents. They date from the 1820’s to the 1860’s…(I used) Fairchilds Appraisement of the Estate document from July 5, 1828 to tell this story."

The book begins with a poem by Mrs. Mary Fairchilds, the mistress of the estate. 

 I mourn the passing of

My husband, Cado Fairchilds.

He managed our estate alone.

Eleven negro slaves,

they carried out the work

that made our estate prosper…

I’m having the estate appraised

After the sale

I will return home

To England,

where I may live without fear,

surrounded by my own

good British people.

The remainder of the poems in the book tell the stories of the eleven slaves, with two poems for each. The first poem is about the slave's "outer" life- where they came from, the work they do on the plantation, who they are married to, etc. The second poem tells about the slave's inner life- their hopes and dreams and fears. 

There’s Peggy- age 48, the Fairchild’s cook, selling for $150.  What she cares about, what she loves, is being called the herb doctor. 

There's Stephen, age 32, a carpenter, selling for $300, who loves Jane, the plantation seamstress, also selling for $300. Given his choice, Stephen would design and build homes in all climates of the world. He dreams of a proper marriage to Jane. Stephen and Jane care for John, a 16-year-old slave who dreams of being an artist.

Other slaves include Athelia, age 42, the plantation laundress, $175, Charlotte, age 30, and her child Dora, age 8, selling as a pair for $400. There's Charlotte, a basket maker, who jumped the broom, with Bacus, the blacksmith, and Betty, age 36, a flower Gardner, who will be sold for $150. Qush and Melvina, both around 60, will be sold for $100 each.

Ashley Bryan's illustrations are, as always, absolutely terrific.

This book could be used with younger children, but could easily be used in a high school classroom. I'm planning on buying a copy for our eighth grade American History classes.

I was really disappointed that this one didn't make the cut. I loved it!

POETRY FRIDAY

FREEDOM'S A CALLIN' ME is a series of poems, narrated by a runaway slave, chronicling his attempts to escape his life on a plantation in the south and travel north to freedom. Here area few samples:

FREEDOM’S A CALLING ME

the overseer’s got his hands busy

but I hear that whip bouncing off somebody’s back

bouncing like thousands of toddlers yelping

but it aint but one or two slaves aint picking quick enough

but he aint looking over here           

this here is my chance to get

right out of here…

NEVER AGAIN

he got us hanging like hogs or fresh beef

with us wiggling under

under a rawhide whip

like that going to scare us…

But they are also hopeful.

THE NORTH STAR

…this is a time to follow the north star

‘cause that’ll lead them to freedom somewhere ‘way from here

they sang about it/how the north star was goin to save them

they dreamed about it huddled in caves and under huge trees

& every night they were on their way north

closer to freedom

always followin the north star

This is not a poetry book for young children.The poems are vivid and graphic and strong, perfect for a middle or high school history class. I could also see myself using them in a writing lesson on voice or as an example for multigenre research reports. Or just simply reading the book aloud, because words this strong deserve to be/must be read aloud.

Ntozake Shanghe's words are accompanied by Rod Brown's gorgeous oil paintings.  You can see a few of those illustrations and poems, here,  at the publisher's website. (I believe I read somewhere that Shange wrote the poems after Brown did the paintings, but I could not find that to verify it this morning).  Shange and Brown have evidently paired up at least once before, in WE TROUBLED THE WATERS. I don't know that book, but I will definitely  be looking for it when I head to the library today.

This is a book I need to own. This is a book people need to know.

BOOK DRAGON  also reviewed FREEDOM'S A-CALLIN ME.

POETRY FRIDAY is at TEACHER DANCE. Head over to Linda's blog and enjoy some great poetry.

TWICE AS GOOD- RICHARD MICHELSON

Most people know about the discrimination experienced by Jackie Robinson, the first African American baseball player in the major leagues. I would venture, however, that not nearly as many know the story of William Powell, the creator of the Clearview Golf Course in Canton, Ohio. Richard Michelson, author of BUSING BREWSTER and LIPMAN PIKE is about to change that with his newest book, TWICE AS GOOD.

Third grader Willie Powell was fascinated by the new golf course in his town, so much so that he would run the seven miles from his home to the course. When he asked a man to teach him to play, the man told Willie that "his kind" weren't welcome there. Willie persevered in visiting the course, however, and soon the man invited him to become a caddy. After several years of caddying, his mother's employer, Dr. Casey, finally taught him to play, and Willie eventually became the captain of his high school golf team. Throughout his growing up years, and on into his adult life, Willie always remembered the words of an elementary school principal, who had told him that if he wanted to get ahead in this world, he would always need to be "twice as good as the white children."

When World War II started, Willie was drafted. In Europe, anyone could play any golf course, but when Willie returned to the United States, he once again encountered discrimination. "Folks don't mind me fighting for their freedom," he told his wife Marcella, "but they sure do mind me sharing their clubhouse." Willie decided that he would build his own golf course, where anyone would be welcome to play, so during the day, he worked on his course, then in the evenings, he supported his family by working as a security guard. Clearview started as a nine hole course, but today, it is an 18 hole course, run by Powell's daughter, Renee, who was the first African American member of the LPGA.

I'm looking forward to sharing TWICE AS GOOD with my fourth graders on Monday. It will be a really important addition to our African American history basket.

NEVER FORGOTTEN- Patricia McKissack, Illustrated by Leo and Diane Dillon

I have been a CYBILS judge for the past four years. In 2008, I judged YA nonfiction, then moved to Elementary Nonfiction for 2009 and 2010. This year, I'm judging poetry, and to be really honest, I'm more than a little overwhelmed/intimidated. How in the world can I ever begin to capture the magnificence of books like Patricia McKissack's NEVER FORGOTTEN?

In an author's note, McKissack says that NEVER FORGOTTEN began when she wondered how African parents grieved and remembered the children who had been captured by slave traders. She turned to African history and folktales. From those roots came NEVER FORGOTTEN, the story of Dinga, a blacksmith from the Mende tribe. Dinga's wife dies in childbirth, and Dinga goes against tribal customs and decides he will raise his son, Mustafa. He calls on the four elements-- Earth, Fire, Water and Wind-- to help him raise his son. When Mustafa is twelve, he is kidnapped by slave traders. Dinga searches for his son, grieves for him, and then calls on the Elements to discover his son's fate…

I guess I will just start by saying that NEVER FORGOTTEN is magnificent in every way imaginable. McKissack tells Dinga and Mustafa's story through a series of approximately 20 poems. The poems are a cross between history and folklore, with African drum sound effects. Listen for a minute…

Water Maiden sang to the boy child

An old, old lullaby:

A baby has come.

He has come,

And happiness has come.

A boy has come.

He has come.

And laughter has come.

A son has come.

He has come,

And beauty has come.

When the child gurgled in reply,

She tickled his toes and said,

"Even now I can hear music in his voice.

Shum Da Da We Da Shum Da Da We Da."

Then, as if all of this glorious language was not enough, the book is illustrated by Caldecott winners Leo and Diane Dillon. Their woodcut illustrations are absolutely gorgeous- incredible detail, rich color, varied page design- possibly even worthy of another Caldecott consideration?

I will definitely be reading this to my fourth graders. I could also see using it in a high school or college history class. It's just about perfect…

RUTH AND THE GREEN BOOK- CALVIN ALEXANDER RAMSEY

Ruth is excited when her father buys a new car. It's supposed to be for his job, but first the family is going to use it to travel from their home in Chicago to Alabama to see Ruth's grandma.

The trip starts out as a grand adventure, but soon the reality of life in the south in the 1950's sets in. No one will let Ruth and her mother use their restroom, so they have to go into the woods. They can't eat at restaurants or stay in a motel.

The second day of their trip, Ruth and her family stay with a friend of her father's who tells the family to look for Esso stations, because that company is friendly to blacks. At one of the Esso stations, a clerk shows them THE NEGRO MOTORIST GREEN BOOK, a publication that tells Blacks about places they can eat and stay. Ruth's family relies on the book to help them for the rest of their journey.

RUTH AND THE GREEN BOOK is fiction, but THE NEGRO MOTORIST GREEN BOOK was actually published from 1936-1964. Pair this book with SIT-IN, another terrific read about life in the segregated South.

UNDERGROUND- SHANE W. EVANS

Today I found one of those "absolutely perfect" picture books. UNDERGROUND, by Shane W. Evans, is the story of the Underground Railroad. The text on each page is very sparse, usually no more than two or three words a page, e.g. the text on the first page is, "The dark." The text on the second page, "The escape." And the third page, "We are quiet."

The illustrations are line drawings, set on a background. Dark shades of blue, with a few lighter blues, a little white for the stars, and an on occasional bit of yellow or gold for lanterns or flames, perfectly capture the nightime journey of runaway slaves. As the journey progresses, and the slaves get closer to freedom, there is more yellow and gold and white. It's a hard book to explain, but the illustrations are gorgeous, absolutely perfect for the subject. This is a book I could see winning the Caldecott.

I hadn't seen UNDERGROUND or read anything about it before I saw it at the bookstore this afternoon. When I looked for it online, I was surprised to read a review that said it would be a perfect book for introducing the Underground Railroad to young children. I guess you could use it that way, but when I read it, I pictured myself using it with older students, maybe fourth, fifth, or sixth graders. I think it would be a perfect book for introducing the Underground Railroad. I think it would also be a great book for a study on inferring.

I also think it would be a really interesting mentor text for writing. UNDERGROUND is so, so, so succinct, but captures, perfectly, the intensity of the slaves' journey. I wonder how kids might create similar texts about other historical events, or peoples' lives.

UNDERGROUND is a book you definitely want to own…

THE BEATITUDES: FROM SLAVERY TO CIVIL RIGHTS by Carole Boston Weatherford

I am a Christian. A Jesus-loving, Bible reading, hard-praying Christian. I don't talk about it a lot on my blog, well, because this blog is not about my Christianity, it's about books, mostly children's books. And I don't like children's books, in fact I intensely dislike children's books, that are preachy or sappy or moralistic or cutesy, which is how I would describe many Christian children's books. This morning, though, I read a book that I have to review, and that I want to give to all of my Christian friends, and my pastor. Because it's one that every Christian should read. But it's also a book I'd love to give to the fifth grade and sixth grade social studies teachers at my school. Or my high school son's African American literature or history teachers. Or actually just about anyone who loves books or American history or children or Jesus.

THE BEATITUDES: FROM SLAVERY TO CIVIL RIGHTS by Carole Boston Weatherford, illustrated by Tim Ladwig, follows the history of Blacks in America through some key events in American history: the Middle Passage of slaves from Africa, the founding of the Black A.M.E. churches, the US Colored Troops who fought to end slavery during the Civil War, the building of Negro Colleges, Marian Anderson on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial , Rosa Parks, Emmett Till, the Freedom Riders, Martin Luther King, Jr. Ruby Bridges, Fannie Lou Hamer, and Barack Obama. The story is narrated, however, by God. Listen to the first page:

"I am the Lord your God.
I was with the Africans who were torn
from the Motherland and cramped in holds of ships
on the Middle Passage from Africa to the Americas.
I heard them chant: Kum ba ya, kum ba ya."

Or the last page:

"I was with your ancestors and I will be with your offspring,
standing on the side of justice.
Even now, I am with the downtrodden
and with those who seek uplift.
I am holy water in the stream of humanity.
Drink, bathe, and be free."

The book begins with the Beatitudes (Matthew 5:3-12), and then a one page explanation of the role of black religious organizations in the Civil Rights movement. Each two-page spread features a single person or event from the time line in glorious, glorious detailed water color illustrations (I can't even explain how illustrator Tim Ladwig uses light/dark and shadow but it's extraordinary-- he has jumped into my top five favorite illustrators with this book!). Marching across the bottom of each page, incorporated into the illustration, is a beatitude. End notes give a one paragraph biography of each person included in the book.

This is an EXTRAORDINARY book, definitely one that anyone who loves books or American history or children or Jesus will want to own.

NEW BOY- JULIAN HOUSTON

I vaguely remember reading CATCHER IN THE RYE when I was in high school, but I didn't remember much about it, so when Z had to read it for freshman English, I read along with him. As we plowed through CATCHER IN THE RYE BREAD (K's title), I could not help but wonder whether it is really necessary for every single high school student in America to read this "classic." What is my son, growing up in a middle class, single parent midwest home supposed to learn from Holden Caufield, a privileged white boy attending boarding school on the East Coast fifty years ago? Are there not other coming of age novels that might be more representative of the typical high school kids' experience? At the very least, would it not be worthwhile to read several different coming of age novels, or sections of novels, with the goal of comparing different parts of the country or world, different time periods, and different socioeconomic groups?

This week, I read a novel, that I think could replace, or at least complement CATCHER IN THE RYE. NEW BOY is the story of Rob Garrett, an African American teenager growing up in Virginia in the late 50's or early 1960's. As the book opens, Rob's parents, a dentist and school teacher, are dropping him off at Draper, an exclusive boarding school in Connecticut. Rob will be the first black student to attend Draper and his Aunt Gwen advises him that he would "do well to keep to himself until he sees what he is dealing with." Rob heeds her advice and has a successful, albeit lonely, year at Draper.

Predictably, issues of race do come up in this book. Over Thanksgiving vacation, Rob visits an elderly aunt in Harlem. He gets a ride from the train station with a classmate whose black chauffeur is visibly angry at Rob's more privileged status. He also visits an African American book store, and has a chance encounter with Malcolm X. Julian Houston embeds a great deal of history into these portions of the book, some reviewers have felt that there was "too much information," to coin my sons' favorite phrase. I enjoyed Houston's insights and didn't feel like the history was overwhelming at all.

The climax of the book deals directly with the Civil Rights movement. Throughout the book, Rob maintains contact with several high school friends from home. The friends are very involved in Civil Rights activities, and stage a sit-in at the Woolworth's lunch counter. These chapters, along with voting chapters from SECRET LIFE OF BEES would be terrific read alouds in any middle school or high school history class.

Unpredictably, Rob is not the main target of prejudice at the boarding school. At a meeting for new students, Rob meets Vinnie, an Italian-American student from New York. The boys at Draper tease Vinnie mercilessly- making fun of his Italian heritage and his acne-ridden face. Finally they ostracize him so totally that he is forced to move out of the dormitory. The headmaster and teachers at the school do nothing, mostly because Vinnie does not come from the old money families at the school. I can only imagine the rich discussions that might arise from closer examinations of this character.

NEW BOY is a great story. It offers much in the way of coming of age and historical fiction. I'm going to share it with my son's English teacher next week...

HOWARD THURMAN'S GREAT HOPE

Author: Kai Jackson Issa

Illustrator: Arthur L. Dawson

Publisher: Lee and Low (review copy provided by publisher)

I've spent my entire career in urban settings. Right now, I'm in a pretty rough neighborhood in north Denver. Many of our students have hard, hard, hard lives-  we have kids being raised by grandparents or foster parents, kids whose parents are working two and three jobs to support their families, and kids whose families are really struggling in our very difficult economy. Our students are regularly exposed to domestic violence and drug and alcohol abuse. Last year, a shopping center in the neighborhood was burned down in a gang-related turf war.

In the midst of all of this craziness, stands S*** Elementary. The teachers at my school do an amazing job, not only teaching kids, but also loving them; they buy shoes and coats and school supplies, take kids to movies and sporting events, organize after school tutoring and clubs, pump up bike tires, give hugs and pats on the back and kicks in the butt. Every single day, in a million different ways, my colleagues say to kids, "Hey, there's a big wide world out there waiting for you. You are somebody wonderful and important." 

As a teacher at this school, I want to contribute to that message. And so I work hard at finding books that will send message of hope to our students. Recently, I became familiar with HOWARD THURMAN'S GREAT HOPE, a new picture book biography. Howard Thurman, in case you have never heard of him (I hadn't, prior to reading this book), was a minister who served as a spiritual advisor to people like Martin Luther King, Jesse Jackson, and Marion Wright Edelman. He traveled to India to meet Mahatma Gandhi long before ML King Jr. made that journey. He wrote twenty books. 

And yet Howard Thurman came from very humble beginnings. His father was a field laborer, who died when Howard was very young. His mother and grandmother took in laundry and cleaned houses. Every morning, before he attended school, Howard walked for an hour to deliver the clean laundry, then picked up the dirty laundry after school. He held a variety of other odd jobs throughout his childhood. 

Howard attended segregated schools in Florida. By the time he got to eighth grade, he was the only student in his class, and the principal taught him.  He received a scholarship to prestigious high school one hundred miles away from his town, but had a suitcase that was held together with tape and rope. When he arrived at the train station, the conductor said he couldn't take his handle-less suitcase on the train and would have to pay $3 to send it as baggage. Howard didn't have the money and sat on the curb and wept. A kind stranger paid the freight charge, so that Howard could put his suitcase onto the train, and travel out into that big world. He was the first person in his family to attend college.

I loved this book on many levels. First, I love being able to say to my kids, "Look, here's a person who had a really hard start, and look what he did." I also loved the kind stranger who paid the freight charge. I loved being able to say to kids, "Look, you never know what your kindness might do for someone else." I love providing my kids with one more example of an African American scholar. 

A great book for a unit on Civil Rights, or African American history, or biography, or determination…

THE LAST BLACK KING OF THE KENTUCKY DERBY

Author: Crystal Hubbard

Illustrator: Robert McGuire

Publisher: Lee and Low

Review copy provided by publisher

This weekend my son's basketball team lost a really tough game.   The boys are eighth graders, many of them have been together since first grade, and we're in kind of a bittersweet time, because next year they'll be splitting up and heading off to different high schools. 

This loss was an especially tough one for several reasons. First, they won this league last year and really wanted to do it again. Second, the team that won is a team they beat 90% of the time. Third and hardest, the team wasn't lost by the kids, it was lost by a referee, when he allowed the other team to take one too many free throws. They won by one point. That extra free throw put them ahead, when really the game should have been tied at regulation and gone into overtime. 

Talking about it later, all my son could say was that it wasn't fair, that they had not really lost the game. And I had to agree with him, they hadn't. All I could say was that sometimes life was not fair and sometimes people in authority behave in dishonorable ways. Sometimes we can't do anything about injustices that are done to us. All we can do is take charge of our attitudes and our behaviors. And sometimes it is  really hard.

Then I thought of Crystal Hubbard's wonderful new picture book, THE LAST BLACK KING OF THE KENTUCKY DERBY. The LAST BLACK KING is the story of Jimmy Winkfield, an African American jockey and horse trainer. Winkfield rode in the Kentucky Derby in 1900, 1901, 1902, 1903,  finishing third in 1900, winning the race in both 1901 and 1902, and coming in second in 1903. Given his tremendous success, one might have expected that he would have gone on to ride in the Kentucky Derby many more times. Surprisingly, Winkfield never rode in the Derby again. In fact, since 1902, however, no African American jockey has ever won the race. Winkfield truly was the "last black king of the Kentucky Derby."

Why, after such finishing in the top three for four years running, did Winkfield not compete again? The answer is simple. He was black. Racism was prevalent. The Kentucky Derby was a big purse for jockeys. Other jockeys were given preferential treatment because they were white. Jimmy Winkfield finished his career as jockey in Russia, where he won many races, married a Russian heiress, then had to drive a herd of thoroughbreds out of the country during the Russian Revolution in 1917. He emigrated to France, where he had to defend himself with a pitchfork during World War I. Life truly wasn't fair. And yet Winkfield made choices, again, and again, and again, which allowed him to survive and thrive in spite of other people's wrong actions.

Robert McGuire's colorful, beautifully detailed illustrations greatly enhance this story. My favorite is a picture of all of the horses running, where McGuire went so far as to use a sponge or splatter painting to show the dirt/mud coming off the horse's hooves. Amazing illustrations!

I shared this book with my fourth and fifth graders on Friday, and with my son this weekend. This week we will read Kadir Nelson's WE ARE THE SHIP. The kids I teach and love need to know how to respond when life treats them unfairly. They need to know that people can rise above very difficult circumstances…

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…

LINCOLN THROUGH THE LENS: HOW PHOTOGRAPHY REVEALED AND SHAPED AN EXTRAORDINARY LIFE- Martin W. Sandler

As many of you know, this year I was a CYBILS panelist for Intermediate Grade/YA Nonfiction. Since the middle of October, I've read almost sixty terrific nonfiction books- everything from biography and memoir, to science experiments, to real-life historical mysteries, to girls' health books. Our panel had to have all of the books read and select our top 5-7 by the end of the year. The shortlists were announced on January 1st. I got the books read, but still have 10-15 that I have not reviewed. I'll be finishing those up over the next few weeks. 

LINCOLN THROUGH THE LENS: HOW PHOTOGRAPHY REVEALED AND SHAPED AN EXTRAORDINARY LIFE is one of the books that made it onto our shortlist. The book chronicles how Abraham Lincoln, one of America's most beloved presidents, used photography, the newest technology of his era, to propel himself into the White House, free the slaves, and ultimately, save our country. As I read it, I couldn't help but think of how Obama used the internet, text messaging, etc. during his 2008 campaign.  Or of Franki and Mary Lee's conversations about 21st century literacies. 

Historian Martin Sandler has done a masterful job telling the story of Abe Lincoln's life through stories, quotes, photographs, and drawings. Each two-page spread addresses a certain period or event in Lincoln's life. The left page contains a quote from Lincoln and a few paragraphs of text, and usually a photograph or drawing. The right-facing page contains one large image, usually a photograph. Commenting about the book, one of the CYBILS panelists said, "It's not often that we find a book where the author does such a masterful job melding story and images." I totally agree with her. 

LINCOLN THROUGH THE LENS would be a terrific read aloud for Lincoln's 200th birthday in February. The text and information  are appropriate for kids from second or third grade all the way through adult. Because of the way the sections are divided, it would also be an outstanding read aloud for middle and high schoolers (and yes, I absolutely do believe we should be reading aloud to older kids!)

Happy Birthday Abe! And thank you, Martin  Sandler!

AIN'T NOTHING BUT A MAN: MY QUEST TO FIND THE REAL JOHN HENRY- Scott Reynolds Nelson with Marc Aronson

Everywhere I go, experts are telling me that I need to teach kids to think like mathematicians, or think like scientists, or think like historians. In theory, I agree with them. In reality, however, I find this more than a little difficult. You see, I am not a mathematician, or a scientist, or a historian, and I don't know how they think. And it's a teeny bit hard to teach kids to do something I don't know how to do myself.  In AIN'T NOTHING BUT A MAN: MY QUEST TO FIND THE REAL JOHN HENRY, I think I have found an answer, at least to the history dilemma.

Author Scott Reynolds Nelson is a history professor at the University of William and Mary who specializes in railroads, and more specifically, railroads and railroad workers in the South. A previous book, STEEL DRIVING MAN: JOHN HENRY: THE UNTOLD STORY OF AN AMERICAN LEGEND, written for adults, won several awards, including an award for the best history book of 2006. I can see why.

AIN'T NOTHING BUT A MAN  is like a field trip into the mind of a historian. Nelson allows us to follow him as he puts together an enormous history puzzle-- who was John Henry? Listen to him at work:

"I didn't start out looking for John Henry. In fact, that search was part of a larger mystery I was trying to solve. But that is the way I work. I am a historian, and my work is an endless scavenger hunt. No matter what the assignment I am working on, I keep picking up clues and filing them away. I don't know when I will use those bits of information, but I keep them, and sometimes they come in handy…"

"The more you know about the past, the more questions you ask. Once you have a handle on what others have found, you can see the gaps, the spaces, the places that have not been covered. That is exactly what happened to me. Even before I thought about John Henry, I discovered that some 40,000 men, the largest railroad workforce in the South, were hardly mentioned. Why? I set out to learn more about those men. That was the mystery I was trying to solve."

"Once upon a time, historians were trained to spend all of their time poring over official documents and other writing left from the past. But more recently, they have realized that the past comes down to us in many ways. Some scholars study fashions, others food. Some sit in graveyards looking at the decorations on tombstones, and more and more historians pay attention to songs" (p. 16).

Nelson is one of those historians who is interested in songs. He uses songs about John Henry, a man who drills into rock (and who I always thought was a part of American folklore, kind of like Paul Bunyan) to learn more about the 40,000 African Americans who built and maintained railroads in the deep South in the 1800's. The reader hikes with Nelson into the hills of the back country of West Virginia, and sits in dusty university libraries, and examines old photographs and prison records, as Nelson painstakingly puts the pieces of the John Henry mystery together. It's a fascinating journey and one that I think kids would absolutely love. 

AINT NOTHING BUT A MAN is illustrated with old photographs, artwork, prison records, and other artifacts from Nelson's search. Each document is thoroughly labelled with a caption that is chock full of additional information. Text boxes give kids  background that enables them to more fully understand the text.

I loved this book! I can't wait to share it with kids!