Treasures for Black History Month

There are so many, many great items that will enrich your celebration of Black History Month, that they beg for Black History celebrations all year

Langston's Train Ride
This gem (Orchard Books, 2004) by Robert Burleigh highlights the moment when Langston Hughes came to believe in himself as a writer. We've heard all the stories about that train ride, but this particular book involves the reader so strongly that one feels the strength of Hughes' belief spill over into a personal belief: We, too, can achieve our dreams. The art by Leonard Jenkins is beautiful and has a cut-paper feel.

Making Freedom – African Americans in U.S. History
We received five volumes of this paperback sourcebook series which cover from the beginnings of our country to 1970 and is a collection needed in every school library. Not only should it be there, it should be used, for it gives an accurate depiction of ALL Americans during the various historical times.

The first book is True to Our Native Land: Beginnings to 1770. The second book is A Song Full of Hope: 1770 – 1830. Book three is Lift Every Voice and covers the years from 1830 – 1860. Book four: Our New Day Begun: 1861 – 1877, and the final book is March On To Victory: 1877 – 1970. The books have been prepared by Primary Source, Inc.

The content not only contains historical data, but also features essays by scholars in African American history. But, this is not a dry re-telling of facts. The writing is clear, acccessible and involving. There are lesson plans (written by teachers, for teachers), an excellent glossary, an accompanying CD featuring all the primary sources, plus supplementary materials, a chronology of events, an annotated bibliography and recordings of music. Heinemann is the distributor of this series.

Rosetta, Rosetta, Sit by Me!
We have a doctoral dissertation to thank for this book. Author Linda Walvoord completed her dissertation on Frederick Douglass' writing, and uncovered Douglass' response to his daughter Rosetta's isolation in the white school she was attending.

This small (5 x 7 3/4) 96-page chapter book was the result of her research and you'll find it will really resonate with kids six to nine. Marshall Cavendish, at your local bookstore.

Maritcha: A Ninteenth-Century American Girl
This title is terrific for the five to nine age group and is a good read aloud. Maritcha was born and grew up in New York and hers is not a slave story. She has a fairly typical (of the time) life in New York, but her family left during the draft riots of the late 1860's. They moved to Providence, RI where prejudice reared its ugly head. Maritcha persevered, however, and became the first Black person to graduate from Providence High School. This story is based on an unpublished memoir and there are wonderful maps, photographs and even historical replicas of menus.

Maritcha (Harry Abrams, 2004) is 10 x 10, 48 pages.

More Resources
A Dream of Freedom – the Civil Rights Movement from 1854 to 1968. Scholastic

Mississippi Morning – A young man's gradual awareness of bigotry. Ages 9 and up. Eerdmans Books for Young Readers

Enemies of Slavery – From John Brown to Denmark Vesey, and 12 other champions of freedom for all. Holiday House

Under the Quilt of Night – This is a sequel to the best-selling Sweet Clara and the Freedom Quilt. Aladdin Paperbacks

The People Could Fly – is a reissue of a tale in one of Virginia Hamilton's earlier books. Knopf Delacorte Dell