Goin’ Someplace
Special
Written by: Patricia C. McKissack
Illustrated by: Jerry Pinkney
Aladdin, 2001
40 pages
Picture Book: Historical Fiction
I chose this book because it is a
Coretta Scott King Award winning book. This is a story about a young African
American girl who is trying to get to “Someplace Special.” She decides to
venture there alone, and she runs into several problems along the way. At this
point in history, our country was dealing with very harsh racism against
African Americans. Everything was segregated, and this young African American girl
has trouble getting to her destination because of the fierce racism. She
finally reaches her destination, the library. Everyone is welcome at the
library!
The illustrator of this book is
Jerry Pinkney. Pinkney created these illustrations by using pencil and
watercolor on paper. The illustrator uses very soft, pale colors in this book.
The setting depicted a southern town in the 1950’s. The illustrations were
detailed and elegant.
This book is appropriate for ages
4-8. I would use this book in a 3rd grade classroom. I could use
this book to introduce a history lesson on the Civil Rights Movement. I would
read this book aloud to my students, and we would discuss the topics of racism
in this story. I would also use this book to introduce a creative writing
lesson. I would read this book aloud to my students and then prompt them to
write by saying, “Why do you think the library was the little girl’s ‘Someplace
Special’?” This book could also be used to introduce a 3rd grade
math lesson. I would read this book aloud and discuss the girl’s journey to the
library. We would talk about how we would estimate how long it would take her
to reach her destination. I would explain what estimation was and how we might
be able to estimate an arrival time for the little girl. This book has been
awarded the Coretta Scott King Award.
No comments:
Post a Comment