Week 6: Children's Book "Ruth and the Green Book" over Historical Fiction theme of the week

Title: Ruth and the Green Book

Author:Alexander Ramsey Calvin

 Summary

Ruth and the Green Book is a great historical fiction genre book for children. The book is through the perspective of a young African American girl named Ruth. The story does not give Ruthś exact age, but if I would have to guess, I would assume that she is about 7 years old. Ruth and her family are traveling from their home in Chicago to visit her grandmother in Alabama. Ruth starts out very excited for her families trip, but along the way they have some not so great encounters. This book is set during the 1950s and Jim Crow era. There are many places along their traveling route that do not allow or service African Americans. During the course of their trip, Ruth and her family stop and stay with a family friend of her fatherś because they had been unable to find somewhere to stay. While their she first learns of Jim Crow and what to be prepared for on the rest of their journey. Finally while stopped at a gas station, the family is given a green book that lists all the places that would accept African Americans. This book promotes empathy to the actual historical events and prejudice that occured back in this era.

Classroom Activities

    This childrenś book bring up many opportunities for in depth whole group discussions about historical events. This is a picture book that can be read to  younger elementary students, but I believe would even be well accepted up into lower jr high levels as an indivual read. Because this book was based in the 1950ś, before reading this book with my students I would give an introductory lesson into what to expect from this time particular time period. For younger students, I may keep the conversation light and show references of pictures about that time period and explain that during this time not all people were treated equally. For older students I would of course go more in depth about real historical events for this time period and prepare them with knowledge about Jim Crow. I found a great website that offered free lesson and teaching resources for this historical fiction childrenś book. The website is called KnowItAll.org, and I have linked it below in my reference section. The activities provided are for upper elementary third through fifth grade. The website gives a very in depth multiday lesson where students are able to map the safest routes for the family to travel during this time period. I think this book would be a great addition to any classroom library.

References

Ruth and the Green Book | Knowitall.org. (n.d.). Www.knowitall.org. Retrieved June 28, 2024, from https://www.knowitall.org/lessons/ruth-and-green-book

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