Elijah of Buxton by Christopher Paul Curtis

Elijah of Buxton by Christopher Paul Curtis is about a first-generation freeborn black 11-year-old named Elijah Freedman. Elijah is best known around his community for having thrown up on Frederick Douglass as a baby. The book focuses on Elijah's life, attending school, doing chores, fishing, and playing with his friends. Elijah was the first to be "born free" to former slaves in Buxton, Canada, and although he's heard stories about slavery from the freed slaves that surround him in his settlement, he has not come face to face with it.

Elijah's innocence to slavery changes as he, who is once described by his parents as being a "fra-gile" boy, embarks on the dangerous journey to America. Elijah, accompanied by Mr. Leroy, emarks on this quest in order to track down former slave, Reverend Zephariah, who stole Mr. Leroy's money that was intended to buy his family back from captivity in the south. Elijah's fragile persona is put to the test once reaching the destination and after Mr. Leroy unexpectedly passes. Elijah, though unable to recover the money and find the evil Reverend, successfully rescues an enslaved baby girl named Hope and the two journey safely back to Buxton.

Once described as a "fragile" boy, Elijah demonstrates the ability to face the harsh reality of slavery and finds the strength and courage that portrays him as the "grown up" that he longed to be perceived as by his family and friends. And he gave the greatest gift of all to Hope-a life of freedom, growing up in the settlement of Buxton, Canada, land of the free.

Curtis was able to depict a historical fiction story that contained the cultural and historical authenticity, while painting a clear picture of what life was like for runaway slaves and those who settled in Buxton. The character that he creates through Elijah is believable to readers, and does not make him "superheroic," while his rescuing of Hope proves to be a brave and admirable characteristic of a hero, it is believable of his age.

In the author's note, Curtis states that while some of the story is fictionalized, most of the story is based on fact. Frederick Douglass and John Brown did visit Buxton, and Reverend William King did found the Elgin Settlement for freed slaves. He encourges readers to go visit Buxton, while "it is almost impossible not to be deeply moved while looking out on fields that were cleared by people who risked their lives for the dream of freedom."

As this was my first book that I've read by Christopher Paul Curtis, I gained a deeper understanding of what life was like for those who were successful in escaping slavery after reaching Canada. It is unreal what young children, such as Elijah, had to endure throughout their lives. I respect, value, and admire their brave spirits as they experienced a life filled of uncertainty and danger.

Tales Our Abuelitas Told: A Hispanic Folktale Collection by F. Isabel Campoy and Alma Flor Ada

Tales Our Abuelitas Told, is a mixture of twelve popular tales celebrating the Hispanic culture and is many roots-Indigenous, African, Arab, Hebrew, and Spanish. Authors F. Isabel Campoy and Alma Flor Ada retold each of these stories that capture the heritage, emotions, and spirit of Latino people around the world. An introduction or "welcome" provides background information to the reader about folktales, their origin, and the influences that each have had on their lives. The authors also include the opening and ending lines of how these tales traditionally begin in the Spanish language, while writing the Spanish version and English-language equivalents in the sections, "To Begin a Story" and "To End a Story."

Examples:

Beginning: Habia una vez... Once upon a time..

Ending: ...y se acabo lo que se daba (and that is the end of all that has been told)

After each tale, the authors give background information about how the tale was derived and any other variations of the story that exist, along with any connections that they have to the story itself. Subject matter includes magical bandpipes, flying horses, talking ants, etc. In some cases, like many folktales, a moral is emphasized.

The authors note throughout the book that most of these stories were heard by them as children from their own grandmothers or "abuelitas." For example, "The Bird of One Thousand Colors" is a story that was told to Ada when she was a little girl, but she had never found the original source. She credits her grandmother, Dolores Salvador Mendez, who passed it on to her. Other stories were merely discovered throughout their research in writing the collection. Variations and changes in stories are also a result of transformations in oral retellings that occur between different cultures and areas of the world. Campoy and Ada note in their welcome that "many of the stories originated from in Spain, a land that has been a cultural crossroad throughout history. Since Spain is geographically close to Africa, it has served as a bridge between the continents of Europe and Africa, receiving influences from both and generating its own unique cultures." For example, in the story, "Dear Deer! Said the Turtle" (reminscent to "The Tortoise and the Hare) Campoy notes that this well-known story has gone through numerous transformations in its travels back and forth across the Atlantic. In the version found in Cuentos populares de Espana, the race was between a rabbit and a hedgehog, who, with the help of his wife, outwits the rabbit. The version told in The Tales Our Abuelitas Told comes from the Cuban oral tradition, with African elements. "The Castle of Chuchurume" is a story, similar to the English folktale "The House That Jack Built" and the African folktale, "The Great Rain on Kapiti Plain," with their cumulative verse. Instead of using the elements of a house, which is found in most versions, the authors substituted it with a castle, following the lead of the title given to this Mexican version of a nursery rhyme.

Sporadic, colorful illustrations by Felipe Davalos, Vivi Escriva, Susan Guevara, and Leyla Torres depict the humor and wit within the text of each folktale. Torres notes at the back of the book that she was inspired by the memory of the mountains, growing up in Bogota, Colombia, and the colorful clothes that women wear in the village markets. Guevara stated, " in this book I wanted to paint the giant threat of an angry, lazy wolf and the fiesty dance of a wily she-fox. I wanted to paint the flat, unreal appearance of color in the moonlight. I think these images have their roots in the magical realistm born out of Latino writing." It is clear that even the illustrators have brought in their own perspectives and experiences into their paintings, while creating their pieces of artwork for each folktale.

Tales Our Abuelitas Told demonstrates the power of storytelling and how folktales have evolved over time. Many are unknown of origin or have been simply passed down from word of mouth. Ada and Campoy captured the essence of tradition, heritage, and remembrance of the stories their abuelitas told them as young girls. I feel that this collection will make a great addition to my classroom library, as well as serving as a comparison for my students in the nursery rhymes and folktales that were passed on by our own ancestors.

A Nandi Tale: Bringing the Rain to Kapiti Plain by Verna Aardema

The great Kapiti Plain, once flourishing with a "sea of grass" enough for giraffes to browse on and herdsmen to pasture their cows on, is devastated by the lack of African rains. The sea of green grass soon becomes brown and dead, "needing the rain from the cloud overhead" as the larger animals begin to migrate. The big, black cloud, all heavy with rain, that shadowed the ground on Kapiti Plain. But Ki-Pat, a herdsman, ingeniously brings the rain down to the plain with a bow and arrow that pierces into the dark rain cloud above. In the end, the grass grew green again, and Ki-Pat got a wife, and a little Ki-Pat who tends the cows now, shoots down the rain, when black clouds shadow Kapiti Plain.

In the note at the back of the book, I discovered that author Verna Aardema is a highly acclaimed storyteller and the author of many books of African folktales. "This tale was discovered in Kenya, Africa more than seventy years ago by Sir Claud Hollis, a famous anthropologist. He camped near the Nandi village and learned the native language from two boys. He learned riddles and proverbs from the Nandi children, and most of the folktales form the Chief Medicine Man. This tale reminded Sir Claud of a cumulative nursery rhyme that he loved as a boy in England, "The House That Jack Built." So he decided to call the story "The Nandi House That Jack Built" and included it in his book "The Nandi: Their Language and Folklore, published in 1909. Verna Aardema has brought the originial story closer to the English nursery rhyme by putting in a cumulative refrain and giving the tale the rhythm of "The House That Jack Built."

Aardema's repetitive phrase "that needed the rain from the cloud overhead--the big, black cloud all heavy with rain, that shadowed the ground on Kapiti plain" is found throughout each of the story's rhythmic plot. Each event occurs, the text builds upon one another, similarly in The House That Jack Built. The rhyming scheme and predictability allow for readers to closely follow the adventure and challenge that awaits Ki-Pat throughout the duration of the drought. The illustrations by Beatriz Vidal demonstrate the types of diverse animals that live in Africa, such as cows, giraffes, lions, rhinos, zebras, antelope, buffalo, cheetahs, leopards, etc. The culture, appearance, and tradition of the Nandi people are also touched on in this story, and can provide the opportunity for further research into this part of Kenya.

Reading Bringing the Rain to Kapiti Plain allowed for me to further evaluate lack of exposure to multicultural literature, especially folktales. Having read The House That Jack Built, this African folktale gave an interesting and unique twist to the English nursery rhyme, while also keeping true the Nandi traditions. Despite differences in folktales within the world, these oral traditions continue to be passed down from one generation to the next, while readers remain entertained and take away a valuable lesson or morale from the story. And just as little Ki-Pat did, too, tends the cows on Kapiti Plain, after being guided by his father by his own experiences and stories.

Cendrillon, A Caribbean Cinderella by Robert D. San Souci

Cendrillon, A Caribbean Cinderella, written by Robert. D. San Souci, is a story that is "loosely" based on the French Creole tale. Told from the perspective of the grandmother's point of view, the story is told of a young woman who wishes to attend the ball of Monsieur Thibault. The plot contains the typical elements of magic that many Cinderella tales include, and as predicted, Cendrillon was reunited with her Prince, married, and lived happily ever after.

Cendrillon incoporates words and phrases from the French Creole language. For example, the carriage was made from a fruit a pain, a breadfruit, and the carriage attendants were magically transformed from manicous, opposums. The author included a glossary at the end of the book which was helpful, however the colorful and detailed illustrations of Brian Pickney aided in the comprehension of the French Creole language.

San Souci did note, to my surprise, that that in island Creole, "Cinderella" would be written out "Sandriyon" through pronounced the same as Cendrillon;" and "Monseieur" would be "Missie." It made me wonder just exactly why if this was the Mer des Antilles (Martinique)version, that the author would not use the spellings known to this particular language of this Caribbean island. This makes it all the more important to investigate other Caribbean folkates to note the similarities and differences, and form conclusions based on a variety of literature.

Pickney's illustrations of oil pants contain colors bold and vibrant of the Caribbean culture. The full page bleeds include one larger illustration and blends into the next page with the text and bordering images, creating a flow of events from one page to the next.

Henry's Freedom Box by Ellen Levine

Henry's Freedom Box details the heart-wrenching story of a slave named Henry Brown living in Virginia in the 1840's, when, tragically, his wife and children are sold and his world is completely destroyed. Henry asks a friend to help mail himself in a crate to Philadelphia to four anti-slavery men. While this would prove to be very dangerous and life-threatening, his friend agrees to assist him. Henry makes it to Philadelphia from Richmond in 1849, on the day of his birthday March 30th! This day also represents his first day of freedom!

At the end of the story, I thought, did Henry ever reunite with his wife and children again? How could he find them, even if he wanted to? Was he ever found and sent back to the south? What did he do in Philadelphia once he gained his freedom?

I found that upon Henry's arrival to Philadelphia, he wrote an autobiography titled, The Narrative of Henry Box Brown, with the help of Charles Stearns. He also created a panorama titled Mirror of Slavery that involved a series of scences detailing his life as a slave and his escape in the crate. http://www.mcps.org/ss/5thgrade/boxbrown.pdf

The author's note at the back of the story states that he never found his wife and children, and it is believed that he remarried in England in 1850.

I admire Henry for his valor and commitment to his family. He risked his life and used his experiences to teach the world about slavery and cruel realities that he and his wife and children endured. So many slaves throughout this time period were separated from their families and faced harsh living conditions that are unimaginable - and it's important to remember these families and how their accomplishments inspired others to follow in their footsteps of attaining independence and equal rights.

Pink and Say by Patricia Polacco

Pink and Say details a friendship that ends shortly after two young boys who meet after a battle in the Civil War. Pink, a young white farmer, and Say, an African American soldier, take refuge in the home of Say's mother. Both boys have different views of returning to war - Pink is determined to return to his unit while Say only agrees to return in order to keep Say's mother out of harm's way. Tragically, Say's mother is killed by marauders and both boys are captured by confederates. Pink is hung and Say survives after being confined in a jail in very harsh conditions. Say survives the story and memory of Pink lives on in his words after being passed down form generation to generation, all the way down to Patricia Polacco, who is Say's great-granddaughter.

This story completely caught me by surprise at the end but I knew going into this book that there would be a personal connection to Polacco's life. Unlike Polacco's great-grandfather, Pink, Say did not have living relatives to pass his life story down generation to generation. Each time this story is read, his story is told and his memory is kept alive. The powerful message at the end of the book gave me goosebumps and caused my eyes to fill with tears:

"This book serves as a written memory of Pinkus Aylee since there are no living descendents to do this for him. When you read this, before you put this book down, say his name out loud and vow to remember him always."

And I responded, "Pinkus I will remember you."