Individual Liberties

Picture Books

Aunt Chip and the Great Triple Creek Dam Affair, by Patricia Polacco (New York: Philomel Books, 1996). When the leaders of Triple Creek decided to close the library, the librarian (Aunt Chip) did not get out of bed for 50 years. She reemerges only when several youngsters show an interest in reading. An affirmation of the importance of free speech and free press.

Ballot Box Battle, by Emily Arnold McCully (New York: Knopf, 1996). This book tells parallel stories of a young girl’s struggle for acceptance and her neighbor’s efforts to vote (her neighbor just happens to be Elizabeth Cady Stanton).

The Bus Ride that Changed History: The Story of Rosa Parks, by Pamela Duncan Edwards, illustrated by Danny Shanahan (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2005). This nonfiction book is packed with information and challenging vocabulary, but the use of repeating lines on every page will help younger students follow the story of Rosa Parks.

The Day Gogo Went to Vote, by Elinor Batezat Sisulu, illustrated by Sharon Wilson (Boston: Little, Brown,1996). An elderly South African woman goes to extraordinary lengths—with the help of her family and election officials—to vote in the first election open to black South Africans.

Delivering Justice: W.W. Law and the Fight for Civil Rights, by Jim Haskins, illustrated by Benny Andrews (Cambridge, MA: Candlewick Press, 2005). Westley Law grew up in Savannah, Georgia, and worked throughout his life to bring civil rights to African Americans living in the city. Through Law’s story, the book highlights a variety of methods of drawing attention to the need for change.

Freedom on the Menu: The Greensboro Sit-Ins, by Carole Boston Weatherford, illustrated by Jerome Lagarrigue (New York: Dial Books, 2005). The story of an eight-year-old and the non-violent protests to achieve integration in public facilities.

Freedom Summer, by Deborah Wiles, illustrated by Jerome Lagarrigue (New York: Atheneum, 2001). Two friends—one black and one white—play together in the summer. When the law requires the public pool to be open to all races, the town fills in the pool rather than let African Americans swim there. Hurt and angry, the youngsters decide to act—by desegregating the store where the white youth usually buys popsicles for both.

Granddaddy’s Gift, by Margaree King Mitchell, illustrated by Larry Johnson (New York: BridgeWater Books, 1997). Little Joe loves her granddaddy so much she would rather stay home with him than go to school, but Granddaddy tells her she must go to school so she will have choices when she grows up. Granddaddy shows his own courage and determination by studying for the Constitution test so he can become their town’s first black registered voter.

In America, by Marissa Moss (New York: Dutton, 1994). A little girl learns about her grandfather’s bravery in immigrating to the Untied States to gain religious freedom.