All Aboard the Schooltrain: A Little Story from the Great Migration

Illustrated by Keisha Morris

Subtitle: A Little Story From the Great Migration

This picture book tells an important story of America’s 20th century history, when many Black families left the Southern states in response to restrictions imposed by Jim Crow laws and sought greater opportunity in the North, Midwest or West.

Thelma lives with her parents and twin little sisters in a small town in Louisiana. Each weekend, she “gets onboard the schooltrain” when her cousin Chris, best friend, Ann Marie, and their neighbor, Michael, walk together to school. They make the trek, rain or shine, because the importance of an education is emphasized to the children. So, while the White children ride a bus and go to a new school with new desks show more and new books, the Black children walk and make do with a dilapidated one-room schoolhouse, old desks and books that are falling apart. But they notice when friends and relatives begin to leave Louisiana for Minnesota or California.

Armand took inspiration from her mother’s own experiences growing up in, and later leaving, Louisiana. While her mother didn’t head for California until she was an adult, Armand’s main character, Thelma, is a child. Thelma notices the trains headed west and likes to imagine where the people are going and what they will do there. She asks questions of her parents and teacher and gets reliable straightforward answers, which help her understand the historic use of the Jim Crow Laws, unfair though they are. But she also learns about Black leaders through history, including Frederick Douglas, Harriet Tubman, and most importantly she learns how vital it is to “keep boarding that schooltrain.”

At the end of the story, the book includes some historical notes, and photographs, about the author’s family, and the history of Jim Crow laws as well as the Great Migration. Definitely worth reading this supplemental information.

Keisha Morris illustrated the work. She uses vibrant colors. I loved the facial expressions; there was such joy and obvious love in this family! show less