2.12.2012

Back of the Bus

This post is part of Nonfiction Monday 
hosted today by Wrapped in Foil

Philomel Books (Penguin)
(pub. 9.1.2011)  32 pages 

A True Tale with A Cherry On Top

A uthor: Aaron Reynolds
     and Illustrator:  Floyd Cooper

haracter:   Rosa Parks

O verview from the publisher: 
         "It seems like any other winter day in Montgomery, Alabama. Mama and child are riding where they're supposed to - way in the back of the bus. The boy passes the time by watching his marble roll up and down the aisle with the motion of the bus, until from way up front a big commotion breaks out. He can't see what's going on, but he can see the policeman arrive outside and he can see Mama's chin grow strong. 'There you go, Rosa Parks," she says, "stirrin' up a nest of hornets. Tomorrow all this'll be forgot.' But they both know differently.
           With childlike words and powerful illustrations, Aaron Reynolds and Coretta Scott King medalist Floyd Cooper recount Rosa Parks' act of defiance through the eyes of a child - who will never forget."

T antalizing taste: 

     "I take out my marble
       and start to hide it in my squeezy-tight fist.
       But instead, I hold it up to the light
       right out in the open.
       That thing shines all brown and golden in the sunlight,
       like it's smilin', I think.
       'Cuz it ain't gotta hide no more."


and something more:   I've always guided my students to read the dedications in books, and Back of the Bus has a touching one from Aaron Reynolds: "To my parents, Paul and Barbara Reynolds, who taught me to believe in myself."

4 comments:

GatheringBooks said...

Hi Jeanne! This does sound like an awesome book. Will add the photo to my Pinterest so that I don't forget. I have also done a review of the picture book Rosa, so I am thinking that this book would go hand in hand with that one. :) Thanks for sharing.

Tara said...

I love the sound of this...and the illustrations look beautiful, too. Thanks for sharing!

Roberta said...

Sounds like a very powerful book, nicely told through the eyes of a child.

I'll definitely be looking for this one.

Jeanne Walker Harvey said...

Hi Myra, Tara and Roberta, Thanks for stopping by!