This is one of the best illustrated books I've read regarding the Civil Rights movement in the United States. The writing is lovely, with powerful phrases that are repeated for effect.

While Birmingham, Alabama was notorious as the most hatefilled stated, nicknamed "Bombingham, Alabama," Huntsville peacefully integrated their schools, and signs were taken down regarding "Whites Only."

After reading many books regarding the civil rights movement, I discovered something new. Black people were not allowed to try on shoes. They had to bring a paper cut out of their feet for the size of the shoe.

Huntsville, was home of the space program. Known as the "Space Center of the Universe," Rockets built to transport people to the moon, were built along side cotton fields.
There were tests of students sitting in seats at lunch counters, but unlike other cities, when arrests occurred, the signs of protest signs said "I ordered a Hamburger, The serve me a warrant!" Seeds of freedom were planted.

Martin Luther King spoke in Huntsville, but it was not reported in the newspapers. The seeds of freedom needed attention to grow.

Easter time was a booming sales time for stores. When non whites refused to buy their Easter finery at the stores, it was an incredible financial blow.

Instead of pretty dresses, and fine suits, the non white people decided to go to church in jeans. This was known as Blue Jean Sunday.

When the notorious hate filled governor George Wallace, mandated that whites and blacks be separated everywhere, the black members of Huntsville, decided to spend the day in the all white park. The children slid down the slides, and they rode on the Merry-Go Round!

The people had a different message than that of hate. Filling balloons as they rode in the front of the court house and released the balloons that carried a message inside. "Please support freedom in Huntsville!!!!"

Huntsville is a prosperous, proud and peaceful place Thus the mayor advocated for freedom and peace. President Kennedy visited Huntsville to advocate for freedom. Knowing that a great deal of money was at stake, he knew that if Huntsville was known as a hateful city, the government might not want to fund the space program.

Four black Huntsville families advocate for the right for their children to go to schools where white student attend. Four students went into the white school. As the hands reach the doors, they feel no movement of opening. The doors are locked.

Then, a miracle occurs, across town, a private religious school with all black students, welcome whites Twelve white students enter a door that is unlocked! This action became known as the
reverse integration in Huntsville schools.

I re read this book three times. The power of the writing and the events that occurred peacefully in Huntsville, seemed to sprout seeds of freedom.

There was no Bull Connor spewing hate-filled bigotry. There were no German Shepard dogs biting children who were plastered with hoses of water that splayed the children against the walls of buildings.

In Huntsville, seeds were planted, and they grew! ( )

This is about the state of Alabama and the way they had to fight discrimination by doing protests and sit-ins in a peaceful way. They didn’t give up and stayed peaceful until eventually slowly and slowly they would get victories. E.B Lewis made this story very realistic which I feel is his style of illustrating we can see how tense it was in situations where the colored people would be in a restaurant and the white people would give them ugly looks. We could feel as if we were there and understand what it looks like to be a colored person during a time that discrimination was very bad. ( )

This book was a wonderful read. It was age appropriate and talked all about the integration of Alabama during the days of segregation. This book touched on the Woolworths sit-in and the state having to let the first African American child into the all white public school. This book hit on so many historic events including Martin Luther King Jr and his speech, How all the African Americans quit buying nice clothes in town and wore pants to church so that the local economy would notice that their purchases matter too. ( )

This book is about the Civil Rights Movement in Huntsville, Alabama. The people of Huntsville used civil, creative ways to encourage change in their town and their schools. They slowly started to integrate races towards one another, breaking down the segregation walls.

A really great non-fiction picture book! The incidents told about are real and written about beautifully. I would absolutely use this book in my classroom during lessons about the Civil Rights Movement. The illustrations are great and the detail to the text helps tell this moving true story.