Elizabeth Fitzgerald Howard

Based upon the story of her own grandfather, Cornelius C. Fitzgerald, and his siblings, and their attendance at a Quaker-run school for newly liberated African-American slaves in post-Civil War Tennessee, Elizabeth Fitzgerald Howard's Virgie Goes to School with Us Boys is the moving and inspirational story of a young girl who refuses to relinquish her dream of getting an education. Pestering her older brothers - George, Will, Nelson, Val, and C.C. - and then her parents, Virgie eventually show more wins permission to attend school, despite her family's concern that she is too small to make the long journey, and that she will cry for her mother, during the long week when the children must live in town.

Chosen as a Coretta Scott King Honor Book for its illustrations, Virgie Goes to School With Us Boys is as appealing, visually speaking, as it is from a storytelling perspective. E.B. Lewis' watercolor artwork captures each scene beautifully - the Fitzgerald siblings, drawn together into a tight group, confronting the frightening forest that looms ahead; Virgie herself, a quill in her hand and a big smile on her face, ready to dive into her studies - accentuating the underlying emotional significance of the story. I particularly appreciated the fact that it was Virgie, despite the nay-saying of her brothers, who managed to rally the group as they were passing through the woods, suggesting that they sing, in order to keep their courage up. The author's afterword, in which she gives more information about her family, and the characters in the story, was quite interesting.

All in all, a book I highly recommend: to young readers who enjoy family stories, particularly historical ones; to children who think education is a waste of time, rather than the precious gift that it is; and to anyone looking for high-quality picture-books featuring the African-American experience. show less

This Historical Fiction Picture Book introduces the reader to Chita, a young girl who each day looks forward to nightly story time with her Papa. After supper, Chita convinces Papa to tell her the story of how he was a brave messenger soldier during the war. Papa retraces his journey across Cuba, with Chita’s help, of course. The illustrations beautifully show Papa’s struggles to conquer the terrain and its inhabitants to successfully deliver an urgent message to the American soldiers on show more the other side of the island.

This story was an easy read, and I ended up enjoying it much more than I first imagined I would. The relationship between Chita and her Papa is captured expertly through the beautiful illustrations, and it was easy to envision the story coming alive as Papa told it.

In the classroom I would use this book to help show some of the struggles soldiers faced when they didn’t have the modern military conveniences. Students could create a Venn Diagram to compare and contrast the way soldiers operate now versus how they operated during the Spanish-American War. This book is a good choice to use as an example of how one person can make an impact. It is also a good illustration of courage, determination, and loyalty to one’s country. show less

It was a wonderful book. However, this book might be too long for kindergartners and 1st graders at the beginning of the year. The book can be broken up into two days if it is being read to a younger age group. This would give the teacher a change to ask her class questions about the story before they start reading it again to see what they remember about the book. It was a very cute story that stressed the importance of a father and daughter spending time together. It is important for show more children, especially at a young age, to spend time with the guardians. I think this book would provide a good opportunity to explain to the class that they should also spend time with their family members/guardians. The teacher could also take time to say that everyone has different types of families and maybe ask some of the class to describe what their family is like.

The book was very sweet. I really enjoyed how Chita was chiming in the story. It made the story very interesting and showed that Chita and her father spend a lot of time together, because she knew at least one story that he has told her many times and enjoys hearing it.

I really want to do Elizabeth Fitzgerald Howard for the author study. show less

Virgie Goes to School with US Boys illustrated by F.B. Lewis is an amazing book and won the Caldecott Medal. The illustrator Lewis used watercolours and alternates beween strong, lively and grey colours. But perfect for the clothes and the time the book is set in. First, I tried to read the book without the text and it was definitely no problem. As the protagonist is an Afro-American girl and the school principal, one might expect that the story is about the difference in race. The text is show more integrated in the paintings, on the right or the left, or sometimes on both pages. show less