What's my only beef with the title I chose this
week? The title itself. If you search the words online without the
author’s name, you come up with horror films, a Star Wars tribute flic, a Bruce
Springsteen book, the list goes on, and on. I’ve made it easy for you by embedding the
links below. Maybe if enough of us click on them we can get the search engine
to find the book first!
This is a meaty 40 page picture book. It
won’t be a quick bedtime read. I hope that won’t keep readers from enjoying the
Ransomes’ beautiful work.
.
Title: Light in the Darkness
Historical Fiction
Author: Lesa Cline-Ransome
(her author photo with her HUGE St. Bernard is lovely)
Illustrator: James E. Ransome
Publisher: Disney, Jump at the Sun, 2013
Audience: 5-9
Themes: Slavery, Education, Resilience
Opening: “Rosa.”
In
the dark of our cabin I can’t see my mama, but I can feel her breath on my face
in whispers.
“It’s
time.”
Synopsis:
Although slaves are forbidden to learn to read or
write, Rosa and her mother risk their lives to attend a pit school, a
large hole dug in the ground and covered with branches to avoid
detection..
What
I Liked about this Book: I
believe that an education is the greatest gift one generation can give
the
next, and I felt Rosa and her mother’s passion
to learn in these pages. At the price of being whipped and going without
sleep, slaves struggled to get the barest education that children today
take for granted. It took my breath away. Without
pens or paper, the students studied and learned. Apart from the story itself,
the illustrator’s dedication "to the light of his life," his wife (the author), gives
a hint of the passion they brought to this project.
Activities/Resources: Watch the demo video
about the artwork for this book. Starting with a blank page James
Ransome shows each step in his watercolor technique, from pencil
drawing, washing off sizing to final drawing. Watching the faces come
alive was amazing for a non-artist like myself. The video is 14 mins in
length. Make letters and numbers with twigs and leaves . Draw words in a
sandbox or garden. (if you take a photo of these you could make greeting cards from this!).
This review is part of PPBF (perfect
picture book Friday) where bloggers share great picture books at Susanna Leonard Hill's site. Along
with tons of writing wisdom, she keeps an ever-growing list of Perfect
Picture Books.
What's my only beef with the title I chose this
week? The title itself. If you search the words online without the
author’s name, you come up with horror films, a Star Wars tribute flic, a Bruce
Springsteen book, the list goes on, and on. I’ve made it easy for you by embedding the
links below. Maybe if enough of us click on them we can get the search engine
to find the book first!
This is a meaty 40 page picture book. It
won’t be a quick bedtime read. I hope that won’t keep readers from enjoying the
Ransomes’ beautiful work.
.
Title: Light in the Darkness
Historical Fiction
Author: Lesa Cline-Ransome
(her author photo with her HUGE St. Bernard is lovely)
Illustrator: James E. Ransome
Publisher: Disney, Jump at the Sun, 2013
Audience: 5-9
Themes: Slavery, Education, Resilience
Opening: “Rosa.”
In
the dark of our cabin I can’t see my mama, but I can feel her breath on my face
in whispers.
“It’s
time.”
Synopsis: Although slaves are forbidden to learn to read or
write, Rosa and her mother risk their lives to attend a pit school, a large hole dug in the ground and covered with branches to avoid detection..
What
I Liked about this Book: I
believe that an education is the greatest gift one generation can give the
next, and I felt Rosa and her mother’s passion
to learn in these pages. At the price of being whipped and going without sleep, slaves struggled to get the barest education that children today take for granted. It took my breath away. Without
pens or paper, the students studied and learned. Apart from the story itself,
the illustrator’s dedication "to the light of his life," his wife (the author), gives
a hint of the passion they brought to this project.
Activities/Resources: Watch the demo video about the artwork for this book. Starting with a blank page James Ransome shows each step in his watercolor technique, from pencil drawing, washing off sizing to final drawing. Watching the faces come alive was amazing for a non-artist like myself. The video is 14 mins in length. Make letters and numbers with twigs and leaves . Draw words in a sandbox or garden. (if you take a photo of these you could make greeting cards from this!).
This review is part of PPBF (perfect
picture book Friday) where bloggers share great picture books at Susanna Leonard Hill's site. Along
with tons of writing wisdom, she keeps an ever-growing list of Perfect
Picture Books.
