A profoundly moving tribute to the resilience and resourcefulness of many who lived in bondage.
A young enslaved man risks punishment as he uses his literacy skills to help others.
The narrator, known to those in his community as Teach, learns to read and write while serving as a companion to his master’s son, Thomas. When Thomas goes off to school, the master places Teach in his store. When he can, he clandestinely teaches the alphabet to children in bondage. People in his community save scraps of letters for him to interpret, and at the end of long workdays, he teaches adults who are eager to learn. He incurs Master’s anger when he’s observed looking at a newspaper and realizes he must be more careful. That doesn’t keep him from secretly reading and sharing the Bible on Sundays. Cline-Ransome’s terse, staccato verse reflects the urgency of Teach’s situation; the book is organized by days of the week, culminating with Sunday, when Teach offers hope to those in attendance by sharing the story of how the children of Israel sought their freedom from Pharaoh. Ransome’s stunningly expressive watercolors provide additional clarity, heightening the emotions. This beautifully crafted story honors the enslaved people who acquired literacy skills and found ways to aid those who were denied that opportunity. It also emphasizes that enslaved people understood and valued education, seeing it as a way to actively resist slavery.
A profoundly moving tribute to the resilience and resourcefulness of many who lived in bondage. (author’s note, bibliography) (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Sept. 24, 2024
ISBN: 9780763681555
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: May 31, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2024
Innocuous adventuring on the smallest of scales.
The Mouse and the Motorcycle (1965) upgrades to The Mice and the Rolls-Royce.
In Windsor Castle there sits a “dollhouse like no other,” replete with working plumbing, electricity, and even a full library of real, tiny books. Called Queen Mary’s Dollhouse, it also plays host to the Whiskers family, a clan of mice that has maintained the house for generations. Henry Whiskers and his cousin Jeremy get up to the usual high jinks young mice get up to, but when Henry’s little sister Isabel goes missing at the same time that the humans decide to clean the house up, the usually bookish big brother goes on the adventure of his life. Now Henry is driving cars, avoiding cats, escaping rats, and all before the upcoming mouse Masquerade. Like an extended version of Beatrix Potter’s The Tale of Two Bad Mice (1904), Priebe keeps this short chapter book constantly moving, with Duncan’s peppy art a cute capper. Oddly, the dollhouse itself plays only the smallest of roles in this story, and no factual information on the real Queen Mary’s Dolls’ House is included at the tale’s end (an opportunity lost).
Innocuous adventuring on the smallest of scales. (Fantasy. 6-8)Pub Date: Jan. 3, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4814-6575-5
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Aladdin
Review Posted Online: Sept. 18, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2016
A life devoted to freedom and dignity, worthy of praise and remembrance.
With the words of Massachusetts colonial rebels ringing in her ears, a slave determines to win her freedom.
In 1780, Mumbet heard the words of the new Massachusetts constitution, including its declaration of freedom and equality. With the help of a young lawyer, she went to court and the following year, won her freedom, becoming Elizabeth Freeman. Slavery was declared illegal and subsequently outlawed in the state. Woelfle writes with fervor as she describes Mumbet’s life in the household of John Ashley, a rich landowner and businessman who hosted protest meetings against British taxation. His wife was abrasive and abusive, striking out with a coal shovel at a young girl, possibly Mumbet’s daughter. Mumbet deflected the blow and regarded the wound as “her badge of bravery.” Ironically, the lawyer who took her case, Theodore Sedgwick, had attended John Ashley’s meetings. Delinois’ full-bleed paintings are heroic in scale, richly textured and vibrant. Typography becomes part of the page design as the font increases when the text mentions freedom. Another slave in the Ashley household was named in the court case, but Woelfle, keeping her young audience in mind, keeps it simple, wisely focusing on Mumbet.
A life devoted to freedom and dignity, worthy of praise and remembrance. (author’s note, selected bibliography, further reading) (Picture book/biography. 5-8)Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-7613-6589-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Carolrhoda
Review Posted Online: Oct. 8, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2013
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