Black History Month Challenge

Can you match the quote with the person who said it? I found this challenge at Biography.com. That site is brimming with all sorts of resources.

Martin Luther King’s Speech

With Martin Luther King Day right around the corner, I was reminded of the “I Have a Dream” speech challenge I made available at this time last year. Then it dawned on me. I never even approached my own daughter about trying it. So I just printed it out for her and she did a pretty good job:

Even though she wasn’t 100% accurate, she nailed the gist of what he was saying. I especially love her use of the word “heart” in place of “character” in the last blank. There is a link to this fill-in-the-blank challenge at my old post.

P.S. The answers are at the link too :-)

Newbery News

The 2011 Newbery Medal winner and the four honor winners have been announced. Of special interest to me is the fact that the winner and three of the four honor books are historical fiction:

2011 Newbery Medal Winner

Moon Over Manifest

by Clare Vanderpool
Twelve-year-old Abilene Tucker is the daughter of a drifter who, in the summer of 1936, sends her to stay with an old friend in Manifest, Kansas, where he grew up, and where she hopes to find out some things about his past.

Ages 9-12



2011 Newbery Honors

Heart of a Samurai 
by Margi Preus
In 1841, rescued by an American whaler after a terrible shipwreck leaves him and his four companions castaways on a remote island, fourteen-year-old Manjiro, who dreams of becoming a samurai, learns new laws and customs as he becomes the first Japanese person to set foot in the United States.

Ages 12 and up

Manjiro’s life story is f a s c i n a t i n g. I reviewed another book about him here.

One Crazy Summer
By Rita Williams-Garcia

In the summer of 1968, after traveling from Brooklyn to Oakland, California, to spend a month with the mother they barely know, eleven-year-old Delphine and her two younger sisters arrive to a cold welcome as they discover that their mother, a dedicated poet and printer, is resentful of the intrusion of their visit and wants them to attend a nearby Black Panther summer camp.

Ages 9-12

I noticed over at The Fourth Musketeer that this author is so committed to literature for young people that she offers her own short story contest to encourage and reward young people's writing. Open to kids from 12-19, the winner receives a check for $100, a certificate, and a personal critique by Rita Williams-Garcia!

Turtle in Paradise
By Jennifer L. Holm

In 1935, when her mother gets a job housekeeping for a woman who does not like children, eleven-year-old Turtle is sent to stay with relatives she has never met in far away Key West, Florida.

Ages 9-12

The other Newbery Honor book this year is Dark Emperor and Other Poems of the Night by Joyce Sidman. It is a collection of twelve poems that celebrate the wonder, mystery, and danger of the night and describes the many things that hide in the dark.

The Newberry Medal is awarded to the author of the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children as decided by the Association for Library Service to Children, a division of the American Library Association. Given since 1922, it is named after John Newbery, an eighteenth-century English publisher of children’s books. It was the first children’s literary award in the world.

Goodbye 2010, Hello 2011

Happy New Year to you all. 

It’s resolution time! In 2011, I resolve to:
1. Blog more
2. Redesign my blog
3. Discover more great history for children.

As we say goodbye to last year,  I thought I'd look back on what history titles the publishing world offered children in 2010.  This assortment includes one written by the President. It’s a clever introduction to thirteen famous Americans. As a whole, the group is not concentrated on any one era or theme. Titles range from the age of dinosaurs to the invention of the Apple computer.  

It will be interesting to see what 2011 offers. What are your resolutions?

Bad News for Outlaws

Everything about Bass Reeves was big: his shoulders, his hands, his hat, his horse, his mustache and his reputation for being a sure shot. But the biggest thing about him was his character. Vaunda Micheaux Nelson does an exemplary job of introducing this Texas born slave turned free man who fought for justice. In Bad News for Outlaws: The Remarkable Life of Bass Reeves, Deputy U. S. Marshal, she chronicles how Reeves went about outwitting outlaws from 1875 to 1907. In that time he brought in over 3,000 bad guys, sometimes as many as 17 at once! Sadly, his own son was one of those 3,000. The tone of the telling puts you in an old west frame of mind and the illustrations are as right as rain. It was fun to find this forgotten hero. 

Ages: 9-12

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Activity: You may be wondering, what do U.S. Marshals do? They apprehend more than half of all federal fugitives, protect the federal judiciary, operate the Witness Security Program, transport federal prisoners, conduct body searches, enforce court orders and Attorney General orders involving civil disturbances and acts of terrorism, execute civil and criminal processes, and seize property acquired by criminals through illegal activities. 

Are you interested in becoming a U. S Marshal like Bass Reeves? Today you would have to meet these qualifications: be a U.S. citizen between the ages of 21 and 36, have a bachelor’s degree or three years of qualifying experience, have a good driving record and valid driver's license, complete a structured interview, meet medical qualifications, undergo a rigorous 17 1/2 week basic training program and be in excellent physical condition. Here are links to the fitness standards for men and the fitness standards for women. Can you do 33 push-ups, 40 sit-ups and run a mile and a half in 12:18? If so, you may well be on your way to being a U. S. Marshall. You can look here for more information.

A Spanish American War Hero

Papa Tells Chita a Story is probably the only Spanish American War picture book in existence. In it, a black American shares a tall tale with his daughter about how he delivered a secret message to troops on the other side of Cuba. Some of his story is not true (GIANT snakes, and alligators and eagles, oh my!) but he does have a beautiful medal, so some of his story must be true.

This book is based on the story that Harry S. McCard, who had enlisted to earn money to go to medical school, told his real life daughter, Chita. After the war he became one of Baltimore’s first black doctors. I love how a photograph of this father and daughter is included in the back of the book.

Ages 4-8
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Activity: Earn your own medal. After you read a book, ride your bike without training wheels, go without television for a week, swim across the pool, eat all your vegetables or learn to tie your shoe, you’ll deserve a medal! Print these then cut them out, (I recommend glueing them to poster board and glueing the second gold page to the back before you cut them out) add a hole (I used a hole punch) for a ribbon and wear proudly! Be sure to write the date of your historic event on the back of your medal.

Learning to Read While Learning History

This is what I was reading in 1st grade:

Given the choice, I would rather have been reading this:

Today we are bombarded with more choices than ever, whether we are in the shoe store, on the car lot or in the cereal aisle. In my day everyone was wearing saddle shoes, driving station wagons, eating Wheaties for breakfast and, of course, learning to read with Dick and Jane. Well, happily, that whole variety of options thing has carried over to beginning readers! Step Into Reading offers a batch of entertaining and educational titles on five levels. Step 1: ready to read (preschool to kindergarten), Step 2: reading with help (preschool to 1st grade), Step 3: reading on your own (1st to 3rd grade), Step 4: reading paragraphs (2nd to 3rd grade), Step 5: reading chapters (2nd to 4th grade).

Step 3 is a collection of over seventy books about nature, action heroes, princesses, witches, folk tales and familiar characters like Arthur. And I'm drooling over all the history titles available at this beginning reader level. Here they are:

• Abe Lincoln's Hat
• Babe Ruth Saves Baseball!
• Barack Obama: Out of Many, One
• The Bravest Dog Ever: The True Story of Balto (my review)
• Christopher Columbus
• Dinosaur Days
• Eat My Dust! Henry Ford's First Race
• The First Thanksgiving
• George Washington and the General's Dog (my review)
• The Great Tulip Trade
• Johnny Appleseed: My Story
• Lewis and Clark: A Prairie Dog for the President
• Listen Up!: Alexander Graham Bell’s Talking Machine
• Man O'War: Best Racehorse Ever
• The True Story of Pocahontas
  
• Paul Revere's Ride
  
  

An Interview with Bessie Coleman

Instead of writing a report on Bessie Coleman, Shannon opted to write her own questions and answers for an interview. She had fun playing the part and learned a lot too. And without further ado, here’s Bessie...

Tuskegee Airmen - Wind Flyers

Wind Flyers is a beautifully illustrated introduction to the Tuskegee Airmen of World War II. It tells the story of a young boy's love of flight leading him on a journey to war torn skies, and then home again with a lasting pride in his accomplishments.

The author includes a note that explains how these segregated squadrons came to be, and how Tuskegee, Alabama produced six hundred pilots and 145,000 support personnel.

Ages 4-8
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Activity: Children between 8 and 17 interested in flying can become a Young Eagle and receive a free local airplane ride. Here are the details.

An American Plague

Over at the World Health Organization website there is an article about N1H1. Last year 209 countries reported cases of the disease resulting in 14,142 deaths worldwide. 216 years ago in just one city a third of that number died from another scourge, as chronicled in An American Plague: The True and Terrifying Story of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793. At that time, the plagued city was the capital of a brand new country. Philadelphia was filled with important people like oh, President George Washington for instance. It was also filled with refugees from Saint-Domingue fleeing the slave uprisings, mounds of rotting coffee, stagnant water and open sewers.

Jim Murphy tells what the streets were like, how the disease began and then spread, how it affected those who succumbed to it and how doctors, government officials and everyday citizens reacted. But perhaps most interesting of all was the significant part played by The Free African Society. Thinking they were immune to the diesease because they were black, they kept the city going when so many deserted it.

This attractive and interesting book is filled with etchings and newspaper articles from those terrible weeks.

Awards: Newbery Honor Book

Ages 9-12
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Activity: Yellow Fever has not been the only killer spread by mosquitoes. Malaria and West Nile Virus and others are too. For $5 an insecticide treated bed net can be supplied to protect a person living in a high risk area. You can make a donation here.

FREE FRIDAY — Sugar Plantation Clip Art —

Slaving away on a sugar plantation was not sweet! For a high resolution version of this image click here.

He Had a Dream

I’ve been reading a few Martin Luther King, Jr. books this week. What’s unique about March On!: The Day My Brother Martin Changed The World, besides the fact it's written by King’s sister, Christine, is that it focuses on the events of one day – August 28, 1963. That was the day of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, a pivotal day for the Civil Rights Movement. While other books bring up “whites only” drinking fountains, bus boycotts, school segregation and King’s assassination, March On! sticks to a hot summer day at the National Mall and the words that moved a nation.

Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech is, without a doubt, one of history's most influential. That got me thinking about speeches. What are the standout speeches of all time? Think about it a minute and then compare what you come up with to Time’s list of top 10 speeches.

Ages 9-12

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Activity: How well do you know the “I Have a Dream” speech? Can you fill in the blanks with the correct missing words?

Women on the Wing

When I first met my husband he was in the process of getting his private pilot license. So I can appreciate the work that goes into learning to fly. I can also appreciate the feeling of freedom that comes with taking off from the ground in a little plane and climbing up into a big sky full of possibilities. Where do you want to go? It's in the joy of flight that I can relate to two great American aviators. But in their drive and determination to push themselves to their limits they are both way, way out of my league. They are Amelia Earhart and Bessie Coleman. Both of these pilots of the female persuasion are the subject of lots of books at my local library. From these titles I recommend the following.

Who Was Amelia Earhart? by Kate Boehm Jerome, is a well organized account of Amelia's life. It's a little book that is generously illustrated with friendly pen and ink drawings and just the right amount of text. An occasional page acts as a fact filled sidebar about other events occurring during Amelia's life: The World’s Fair, The Wright Brothers, the Women's Suffrage Movement and The Great Depression. And, as if that isn't enough, the book ends with an information packed timeline. It's a quick but thorough account of Amelia's life, perfect for book reports or for just getting to know Amelia.

Ages 9-12
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I was already familiar with Amelia so I really loved getting to know Bessie Coleman in Fly, Bessie, Fly. She is the epitome of what I tell my children, “Don't say you can't, say ‘how can I?’” She was born five years before Amelia into a hard Texas life of Jim Crow and cotton picking and a fatherless home. But she was always determined to be somebody. In her twenties she moved to Chicago and it was there that she decided to become a pilot, only to discover that no one in this country would teach a colored man or woman to fly. Instead of giving up, she found out she could get her license in France and commenced to saving money and learning to speak French. When she returned from France in 1921, the only black woman in the world licensed to fly, she was a star.

This book has a nice pace and crisp, full page, watercolor illustrations. It's a story definitely worth sharing.

Ages 4-8
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Activity: Draw your own bi-plane with these step by step directions.

Toussaint L'Ouverture

Open the Door to Liberty is an excellent introduction to Haiti born Toussaint L'Ouverture, who was a slave, a slave rebellion leader, a governor-general of this island nation and lastly, a prisoner in France, compliments of Napoleon.

Unfortunately, most people are not familiar with him. They may ask:

Why is Toussaint so important? He organized the slaves on his island to fight for their liberty. Because of his success, all slaves in all French colonies were decreed free.

When did this happen? This law was passed in 1793. At that time Thomas Jefferson was the Secretary of State in America and Napoleon Bonaparte was not quite yet a general in France.

Why do you bring up Napoleon? In 1801, as first consul of the French Republic, Napoleon needed money and decided to reinstate slavery in the French colonies in the West Indies in order to produce sugar with higher profits. He sent a sizable army to first overthrow Toussaint and then to launch a conquest of the land France claimed west of New Orleans. Between Toussaint's unconquerable army and yellow fever, the French fleet never made it to New Orleans.

What effect did this have on America? In 1803, when America offered to buy New Orleans from France, Napoleon needed money so badly he offered all of the Louisiana Territory as well. This sale has been called the greatest land bargain in history. If Toussaint had not been the general in Haiti (then called St. Domingue), the chain of events might have provided a much different outcome.

Author, Anna Rockwell, does an admirable job of describing Toussaint, leader of the first triumphant slave rebellion in history. And you know me and my weakness for excellent illustrations...well R. Gregory Christie's really rock in this book! They exude an island flavor and the book layout is just gorgeous. I recommend this title!

Ages 9-12

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Activity: In the name of liberty, equality and brotherhood, here's a Toussaint L'Ouverture crossword puzzle.

The Lincolns

I really enjoyed reading about Abraham Lincoln's wife and her dearest friend in An Unlikely Friendship: A Novel of Mary Todd Lincoln and Elizabeth Keckley, by the ever so talented Ann Rinaldi. This well written historical fiction will especially appeal to teenage girls as well as adults with an interest in history.

It is organized in a unique way:
1. The day Abraham Lincoln was shot (starting with breakfast)
2. Mary Todd's upbringing in Lexington, Kentucky
3. Elizabeth Keckley's upbringing as a slave
4. The friendship of these two women.

You could certainly say that Mary and Elizabeth (Lizzy) were opposites. Priviledged Mary Todd grew up waited-on by slaves while Lizzy endured the wretched life of a slave. Mary lost her mother early in life and was then subjected to a loathsome step-mother. Lizzy on the other hand was raised in the company of her mother, the plantation's seamstress. And thankfully, her mother taught her how to sew, a skill that eventually earned her freedom and an introduction to the upper-crust of the nation's capitol.

Readers will come away from this story with empathy for those trapped in slavery and a true sense of what Antebellum life was like. A great read.

Ages 12 and up
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Another Lincoln title caught my eye this week. The Lincolns: A Scrapbook Look at Abraham and Mary is a thick "scrapbook" containing 156 pages of newspaper clippings, photos, political cartoons and letters from the couples lives all arranged in chronological order. It's chock-full of information making for interesting browsing. Here is one of the many little gems it contains...an account of the first time Abraham met Mary:

Tall and gawky, wearing a swallowtail coat that was too short, shabbily patched trousers, and mismatched socks, Abraham made his way to Mary's side. "Miss Todd," he said, "I want to dance with you in the worst way." And, as Mary remembered it, "he certainly did."

Ages 9 and up
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Activity: How well do you know the 16th president? Try this Abraham Lincoln Crossword Puzzle.

The Old Ball Game

Here are a couple of good book ideas for any baseball fan.

First I’ll discuss a book that is about the sport of baseball and men with the God-given talent to play it well, while dealing with the human-made obstacle of segregation. We Are the Ship: The Story of Negro League Baseball is a beautiful book brimming with luscious paintings by Kadir Nelson. Most of the paintings are static portraits of Negro League greats like John Henry “Pop” Lloyd, Oscar Charleston, Wilber “Bullet” Rogan and Josh Gibson. What I especially love are the scenes Nelson captured with his brush: The Monarch’s dug out, The Chicago American Giants disembarking from the train, Jackie Robinson stealing home plate, some of the Newark Eagles singing five part harmony on the team bus, a double page spread of Josh Gibson watching Satchel Paige pitching to Buck Leonard.

The forward is written by none other than Hank Aaron. The text is written by the artist himself in the anonymous voice of a Negro League player and covers the history of the league from the 1920’s to 1947 in 10 chapters (labeled as nine innings with one extra inning). You get a feeling for the personality and special talents of the players and managers. It is somewhat rambling at times, but what really struck me (I haven’t followed baseball since the Cincinnati Reds’ “Big Red Machine” days in the 70’s) was the ominous presence of segregation. It seems so weird that a team bus would sometimes drive through town after town without finding a restaurant that would serve blacks. “No shirt, no shoes, no service” makes sense but to not serve someone who has money a pork tenderloin sandwich with fries because of their skin color seems as culturally odd to me as Chinese women binding their feet or polygamy or scalp collecting, or I don’t know, cannibalism or something. Just odd.

For the sake of history I’ll share a family tale as it relates to segregation. My mother was born in 1928 in a small southern Indiana town. She told me about the segregated schools. Her home on North Broadway was near the black only Broadway School but she went to school a couple of blocks in the other direction on South Broadway. Her family employed a black cook named Lucy. Sometimes Lucy would take my Mom to a picture show (most probably a Shirley Temple movie). In the segregated theatre they would have to sit in the balcony which my Mom thought was pretty neat, but I wonder how that felt to dear, sweet Lucy? By the way, many years later, when Mom and Dad would go out on a Saturday night, Lucy would watch us (and cook what seemed like a feast after my cooking-challenged mother’s meals). We LOVED Lucy. She had a deep, pleasant laugh. We played old maid and a multitude of other games. We serenaded her with her favorite songs. She read us The Golden Book of 365 Stories. I vividly remember one New Year’s Eve when she filled the family room with colorful balloons and we stomped on them at midnight. Once she took us to see Biscuit Eater at the same theatre she had taken my mother years before. And we all sat together on the main floor. That movie was a tearjerker.

We Are the Ship: The Story of Negro League Baseball winds down, as did the Negro League, with Jackie Robinson’s historic move to the majors. This book opened my eyes to the burden placed on Robinson. For anyone with an interest in baseball or segregation, this is an exceptional book.

Ages 9-12
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Activity: Click here for a coloring page of Jackie Robinson and here is a Negro League Baseball word search puzzle.



The other book, Moe Berg: The Spy Behind Home Plate was also interesting. I enjoyed getting to know Moe, someone I am ashamed to say, I had never heard of. He was the child of emigrant Ukrainian Jews who grew up pitching for his Newark, New Jersey school team while excelling in his classes. He was one of only a handful of Jews to attend Princeton at that time where his special talents were baseball and languages, his major. Upon graduation he signed on with the Brooklyn Robins (later called the Brooklyn Dodgers). He eventually attained a law degree and practiced law while playing ball in the Major Leagues in the spring and summer. How impressive is that!? When World War II was just heating up, Moe’s skill with languages (he could speak eight fluently) and his fame as a ballplayer made it handy for him to travel through baseball loving countries like Japan and those in Latin America and collect useful information for the U.S.A. Before all was said and done he was living a bit of a James Bond lifestyle, tracking down German scientists in a race to the atom bomb. This is definitely a life story worth reading!

Ages 9-12
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