A COUNTRY CAUGHT BETWEEN BLACK AND WHITE: Teaching Brown Girl Dreaming through related picture books 

ADVANTAGES OF PICTURE BOOKS IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS ➤ Dual audience — messages for both adults/older readers and child readers ➤ Elements of design — specific color choice, symbolism, etc. ➤ Societal and historical context ➤ Bibliotherapy/art therapy ➤ Develop critical thinking skills ➤ Helpful to English-language learners ➤ Often promote child activism 

The Other Side, Jacqueline Woodson 2001 Freedom Summer, Deborah Wiles 2001 A Sweet Smell of Roses, Angela Johnson 2005 

THE OTHER SIDE ➤ Written by Jacqueline Woodson ➤ Illustrations by EB Lewis ➤ 2001 ➤ Clover has always wondered why a fence separates the black side of town from the white side. But this summer when Annie, a white girl from the other side, begins to sit on the fence, Clover grows more curious about the reason why the fence is there and about the daring girl who sits on it, rain or shine. And one day, feeling very brave, Clover approaches Annie. ➤ “Praised for showing that change can happen little by little, one child at a time.” 

USE OF SPACE ON THE PAGE 

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“Because that’s the way things have always been.” CHILD ACTIVIST VS. PASSIVE ADULT 

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FREEDOM SUMMER ➤ Written by Deborah Wiles ➤ Illustrated by Jerome Lagarrigue ➤ 2001 ➤ Winner of Ezra Jack Keats Book Award & Coretta Scott King Award ➤ Joe and John Henry are a lot alike, but there’s one important way they’re different: Joe is white and John Henry is black. Taking place in the South in 1964, a law is passed that forbids segregation and opens the town pool to everyone. Joe and John Henry are so excited but discover that it takes more than a new law to change people’s hearts. 

TOPICS TO DISCUSS ➤ The Civil Rights Act of 1964 — “All persons shall be entitled to the full and equal enjoyment” of any public place, regardless of “…race, color, religion, or national origin.” ➤ “Freedom Summer” — the summer of 1964 ➤ Movement to register black Americans to vote ➤ Led to great racial violence and change ➤ Wiles: “This story grew out of my feelings surrounding that time. It is fiction, but based on real events.” ➤ Illustrator’s use of color 

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Connecting this with The Other Side & Brown Girl Dreaming… WHY DO YOU THINK THIS MOMENT IS SIGNIFICANT? 

➤ Written by Angela Johnson ➤ Illustrated by Eric Velasquez ➤ 2005 ➤ Two young sisters sneak out of the house in order to be a part of a civil rights march in their town. A SWEET SMELL OF ROSES 

ABOUT THE BOOK ➤ “For each of the names that we know, there are tens of thousands that we do not. And some of those overlooked names belong to children. A Sweet Smell of Roses is a tribute to them. The brave boys and girls who — like their adult counterparts — could not resist the scent of freedom carried aloft by the winds of change.” ➤ Discussion questions raised by plot and characters ➤ Why do the girls sneak out? ➤ What does it mean to be brave? ➤ What is the significance of the roses? ➤ What role does the color red play? 

Why do you think the children had to sneak out of the house? What danger do you think they could have faced? Would those dangers be different for our children today? Why or why not? 

What does it mean to be brave? Who is brave in this story? Do you think the young girls are braver than the adults? Why? 

Imagine yourself experiencing this scene through the eyes of a child. What may have stood out to you? How do you think the children felt about those people yelling at the marchers? 

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