This is a fictional story based on the author's experiences as a child. The illustrations are done in acrylic paints. The paintings force the reader to see the isolation the workers felt in those vast fields. The content of this story is about a migrant family that has to pick cotton to keep their family afloat. The story begins in the dark of the morning and goes through all the events of the day as the family works in the cotton fields. The reading level for this book is from first to third grade. Some curricular connections could be migrant families, cotton picking, family life, African American history, and historical fiction.

Working Cotton is a historical fiction book. The art in this book is hand drawn illustrations done with pastels. The book is about a little girl and her family. The book is about them picking cotton on a farm. The reading level of this book is first or second grade. The curricular connection is history. It would be a good book to read to the class when talking about slavery.

Working Cotton is a book based on peoms from The Peacock Poems. It tells of a little African American girl, Shelan, and her family working in the cotton field. Her day starts before the sun rises and ends long after the sun sets. She is to little to pick her own cotton bundle, but still has to make progress helping her family. She is so amazed with her father's hard work and how fast he can pick cotton.
I have always enjoyed fiction and nonfiction books about African Americans and how hard it was for them to grow up years ago. This book doesn't necessarily say its setting is during slavery times, but little hints through out the book give a hint thats the era they were working in.
This book would be a wonderful tool to use during Black History month or if there was a section or unit based on Civil War times or slavery to show how hard ones family must work and ask the children how they would feel if they had to work that hard for that long.

Genre: Realistic Fiction ( )

Genre ~ Historical Fiction ~ "Working Cotton" is a great example of a historical fiction picture book because of its authenticity. Both the setting and the langauge accurately reflect the time period giving further insight to the reader. This further insight not only helps the reader understand the character on a deeper level, but it also allows one to enter into that time period. The author has done a great job of turning facts into fiction through the use of the young black girl - Shelan.

Setting ~ Although there was no specific date mentioned, I am impressed with how the setting is portrayed. There is a general time and place which has allowed the reader to relate to the characters and the time period. The illustrations help give the mood, which benefits the setting and grabs the readers further into what life was like during this time period.

Media ~ Acrylic paints on stonehenge white paper ( )