Fleeing To Freedom

When we leave our homes, permanently, we do so with mixed feelings.  We find ourselves experiencing a combination of excitement and anxiety.  We are starting over someplace new; even if it's in the same community or state.  If we have left one state or country, moving to another, everything is amplified.  To make the choice to relocate out of fear or to avoid further relentless persecution heightens every emotion.

For many the decision brings other hardships.  Even starting the journey is laden with peril.  Overground Railroad (Holiday House, January 7, 2020) written by Lesa Cline-Ransome with illustrations by James E. Ransome addresses these very real worries endured by those millions of people who were part of the Great Migration.  Left behind were their family, homes, and possessions too large to carry.  They ventured forth in hopes of a better life.

Some walked.
Some drove.
But we took the train north.
Me and Mama and Daddy got to the station
crack of dawn early
before anyone
could see us leave.
Daddy holding tight
to me with one hand
three tickets to New York in the other.

In this first passage urgency and determination envelope the narrator and her parents.  Bags and a shoebox packed with food accompany these three travelers.  They move to the rear of the train car for African American passengers bound for New York City.

Before arriving at the station their goodbyes are said in secret to an uncle and grandparents before the sun rises.  The child's parents are exhausted from picking cotton and working land they do not own.  As the girl, Ruth Ellen, looks out the train's windows, she can see others already picking cotton and working land they do not own.

At one stop so many others board the train with bags and boxes, the car is crowded to capacity.  People stand or sit on the floor.  Ruth Ellen and her father play games with cards.  Then she begins reading a book her teacher gave her on her last day of school, "Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass."  As the train travels through Virginia and toward Washington, D. C., the girl keeps reading.  She wonders about all the people squeezed into this car, believing they are going to a fresh start with more freedom.  

When the train crosses a border, the WHITES ONLY sign is removed by porters.  People can sit in any car they desire and move about the train.  Ruth Ellen and her parents wander down the aisles; the distinctions in amenities are staggering.  Geographical landmarks trigger a comparison in the girl's mind between her trip and that taken by Frederick Douglass.  The city lights flickering in buildings against the dark on their arrival are a reminder of others who looked to the North for freedom.


When children tell a story, they share their experiences openly with truth.  Readers will readily identify with every thought shared by Ruth Ellen.  Her voice through the writing of Lesa Cline-Ransome is clear, moving and descriptive.  We are fully aware of the family's life in the South and their train trip to the North with each tiny personal detail given to us by Ruth Ellen.  The inclusion of the conductor calling out each station stop brings us further into the story.  Here is a passage.

In our straight-back seats
when we finish with cards
Mama fusses in her purse
Daddy stares ahead
I take out the book
Teacher gave me.
The cover's worn,
pages too.
"Read to me, Ruthie," Mama says
and I do.
First the title,
"Narrative of the Life of
Frederick Douglass."


The yellow sky, on the front of the dust jacket, as the sun rises at the station signals hope with the white birds flying to the right.  You can almost feel the hearts of Ruth Ellen and her parents swell with longing as the train curves around them and others waiting.  Ruth Ellen holds the shoebox packed with food by her grandmother and her father holds the three tickets which represent freedom.  To the left, on the back, on a light purple canvas is a portion and smaller version of an interior image.  The train is crossing the Delaware River surrounded by a pastoral countryside.  The text reads:

Making their way north aboard the Overground Railroad in
search of hope, freedom, and a better life.

On the book case artist, illustrator, James E. Ransome has placed an interior illustration signifying the end of one chapter in this family's life and the beginning of another.  On the opening and closing endpapers a large cotton plant with spread branches, ready for picking, is over four separate pictures depicting methods of travel taken by those migrating North.  These are powerful endpapers.

With a page turn the two-page picture for the title page gives us a view of a cotton field next to Ruth Ellen's home with the train moving across the horizon in the distance.  On the verso and dedication pages, James E. Ransome has placed in square frames on white, first, a visual of the railroad track and second, a single cotton boll on a stalk against brown earth and a blue sky.  Each image is rendered

with paper, graphite, paste pencils, and watercolors,

carefully placed for a realistic effect, historically and emotionally.  (One of the passengers on the train is reading a newspaper from Washington, D. C. dated May 15, 1939.)

Each two-page picture takes us back in time so we may comprehend.  In the faces of Ruth Ellen's parents, we see their quiet resolve.  On Ruth Ellen's face, we see a mixture of emotions as the trip progresses. 

One of my many favorite illustrations is of Ruth Ellen and her parents seated on the train.  They are occupying a single seat with Ruth Ellen next to the window, Mama in the middle and Daddy on the end of the seat closet to the aisle.  Mama is holding the shoebox on her lap.  Ruth Ellen and Daddy are playing the card game War using the top of the shoebox as a table.  In this scene we can see the beautiful blend of papers James E. Ransome uses throughout the book on their clothing and in the clothing of the other passengers seated behind them.


This exemplary tribute to those people part of the Great Migration is a book for all readers.  Overground Railroad written by Lesa Cline-Ransome with illustrations by James E. Ransome will supply understanding, generate discussions and create a thirst for more knowledge.  An Author's Note at the end provides further information.  I highly recommend this title for your personal and professional collections.

To learn more about Lesa Cline-Ransome and James E. Ransome and their other work, please follow the links attached to their names to access their respective websites.  Lesa Cline-Ransome has accounts on Facebook and Twitter.  James E. Ransome has accounts on Facebook and Instagram.  At Penguin Random House you can view the stunning endpapers.  Perhaps you will find this article at History.com helpful.  Lesa Cline-Ransome dedicates the book to Isabel Wilkerson, author of The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration.

A Fire of Courage Burned Within

From the time they are a child their path is clear.  Each choice they make regardless of their circumstances is intended to keep them heading in the same direction.  For these people the journey is in service of others.  For these people help is given, without question, for the betterment of others; especially those lacking the same rights as others.

She lived for nearly a century.  Before She Was Harriet (Holiday House, November 7, 2017) written by Lesa Cline-Ransome with illustrations by James E. Ransome is a brilliant collaboration.  It is an eloquent portrait of a champion for American people. 

Here she sits

an old woman

tired and worn

her legs stiff

her back achy

In the years before this day when she is seated waiting, this woman, Harriet Tubman achieved remarkable triumphs for many people.  She changed lives, hundreds of lives.  As a suffragist she fought for the rights of women.  Her efforts were realized seven years after her death when women acquired the right to vote.

Prior to this time she led Union troops on a successful raid enabling more than seven hundred slaves to obtain their freedom.  On this night in June 1863 history was made on and along the Combahee River.  Her skill in navigating from the south to the north made her invaluable in obtaining information for the Union army as a spy during the Civil War.  Her knowledge of healing and natural remedies assisted her in her role as a nurse for soldiers.

In reading of Harriet bringing her own parents to freedom, escaping their master from the south into Canada, you know it was an event like no other.  The shared joy between the trio must have been immeasurable.  This is why they called her Moses.  She led one successful trip after another on the Underground Railroad.  

Known as Minty she worked as a slave in Maryland and also for other owners toiling in the fields.  She knew the sting of the lash.  As a child her given name was Araminta.  It was her father who taught her to survive in the woods and look to the constellations in the night sky for guidance. She was not born in freedom but every step she took was toward it.  

It is a poem.  It is a life story.  Milestones in this extraordinary woman's life are woven into a narrative of exquisite, descriptive respect by author Lesa Cline-Ransome.

As each layer builds backward from Harriet as an old woman we are acquainted with her many accomplishments beginning with her childhood.  Her strength and bravery inspire us all.  Lesa Cline-Ransome brings us full circle back to the elder Harriet.  The use of no punctuation means, to me, Harriet and the effects of her presence will always be with us.  Here is a passage.

Before she was an old woman
she was a suffragist
a voice for women
who had none
in marriages
in courts
in voting booths
before her voice became 
soft and raspy
it was loud
and angry
rising above injustice


Upon opening, unfolding, the matching dust jacket and book case first as a young girl on the right, looking to the stars, Araminta is learning.  These nocturnal pinpricks of light are a map in which she will be able to lead hundreds to new lives, free lives.  To the left, within a circle like the moon on the right, we see an older Harriet crossing a stream with slaves, leading them to safety.  Above the image are the words:

Suffragist * General * Union Spy
Nurse * Moses * Minty

Beneath the illustration is her name, Harriet Tubman.

The opening and closing endpapers are in the same shade of yellow as the title text and thin glowing line around the moon and the image on the back of the jacket and case.  James E. Ransome begins his visual storytelling with a train crossing a landscape and then with an image spanning two pages for the title.  Harriet Tubman is waiting on a bench outside a train depot.  Others are gathered either to board the train or bid travelers goodbye.

Each page turn is a two-page picture.  Regardless of the perspective our eyes are immediately drawn to Harriet.  James E. Ransome has masterfully captured her pure spirit of courage and compassion.  She was only five feet tall but her personality of perseverance is present in each of her capacities.  The facial expressions on Harriet are stunning.

One of my many favorite pictures is a night scene.  Harriet is kneeing on a hill overlooking a small community below her.  Trees and small buildings are visible.  Smoke rises from chimneys.  A few lights are glowing.  Her head is bowed in prayer beneath a full moon and a scattering of stars. Her body takes up nearly all of the left side.


The reverence author Lesa Cline-Ransome and illustrator James E. Ransome feel for Harriet Tubman is clearly evident in the flawless blend of their beautiful words and art.  Every collection personal and professional needs a copy of Before She Was Harriet.  It is a moving read aloud.

To learn more about Lesa Cline-Ransome and James E. Ransome and their other work please follow the links attached to their names to access their websites.  Lesa Cline-Ransome has written a blog post about this title.  You will want to read it.  At the publisher's website is a four page educator's guide.  At author, reviewer and blogger Julie Danielson's site, Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast, you can view an interior image and read her post at Kirkus.

UPDATE:  Please follow this link to KidLit TV to hear Lesa Cline-Ransome read her book aloud while viewing her husband's remarkable illustrations.  This title is a 2018 Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor Book. 



Please take a few moments to visit Kid Lit Frenzy hosted by educator Alyson Beecher to view the titles selected by other bloggers this week participating in the 2017 Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge.

In Search Of Marine Giants

To be able to see creatures in zoos and aquariums is a mixed blessing; an ongoing debate in my mind.  These institutions give visitors the opportunity to observe species from all over the world; animals they might never get to see in the wild.  On the other hand, seeing them in zoos and aquariums makes me wish they could live free in their natural habitat.  Now more than ever it seems the purpose of good zoos and aquariums is to provide sanctuary, a chance for research and the preservation of endangered species.

Mentioned previously on this blog was my visit to Shedd Aquarium in Chicago.  For me to see belugas was a remarkable experience and to this day unforgettable.  Last evening I briefly spoke with author Jess Keating (How To Outrun A Crocodile With Your Shoes Untied, Sourcebooks Jabberwocky, June 3, 2014 and recently, How to Outswim a Shark Without A Snorkel, Sourcebooks Jabberwocky, January 6, 2015) about zoos and aquariums.  She made some important points.

...a place where people (especially kids) can go to fall in love first hand with them.  (To me) people are more willing to share the world with those they care about.  And seeing first hand is the first step in that caring which hopefully will lead to education and future conservation.

The proportion of money zoos and aquariums spend on research and suitable habitats for the animals versus "entertainment stuff" is often indicative of really great quality of life for the creatures, too.  Obviously some are terrible, but for the most part, they are trying to do their part to keep the options there, and foster that love of animals in others.

In the case of whales, I think that more is definitely needed to ensure their emotional health in captivity, but people seem to be starting to realize that the current situation with their keeping isn't good enough.  That's not great, but it's definitely a start!














Author Lesa Cline-Ransome and illustrator G. Brian Karas offer another choice for seeing these beautiful mammals of the seas and oceans, whale watching.  In their new title, Whale Trails: Before And Now (Christy Ottaviano Books, Henry Holt And Company, January 20, 2015) they depict the transformation in the relationship between whales and people.  It's a documentation of a journey I trust will never end.

My father and I live for the sea.

The narrator, a young girl, is getting ready to join her dad, the captain of the Cuffee, on their daily excursion to whale watch.  Passengers gather on the dock as she hands out brochures of what they can expect to see today.  She then takes us back to earlier generations of her family when it was believed whales were feared creatures of the deep hunted for their baleen and blubber.

Alternating between the present and the past she explains how the trip taken today on the Cuffee contrasts with a ship getting ready to hunt for whales.  The Cuffee will leave when the day cools; the whaler left at the end of summer.  The more temporary huts lining the dock today are designed to serve a distinct clientele as opposed to the more practical shops serving the shipping community many years ago.

All the people boarding the Cuffee hope to see whales due to their love of these creatures.  The crew on the whaler hoped to see whales to gain wealth.  Perhaps some longed for adventure and simply loved being at sea.  Construction materials used in the whale watching boat are compared to those used in making vessels long ago.

Those hunting whales with their eyes and binoculars can expect to be out on the water for no more than three hours.  It might have taken the hunters of old three years to complete a successful voyage depending on their route and stops in various ports.  What our narrator carries in her backpack for supplies is decidedly less than the whaling ship then and nowhere near as lethal.

Unlike today, in the past, whales had a speed advantage over the ships.  The thrill of sighting a whale, even the type of whale, might be the same but the means and amount of time necessary have changed.  Harpoons have been replaced with cameras.  Days of work, cleaning and repair have been exchanged for a leisurely joy in the journey.  Now at the end of the day the whales are free; free to travel along the watery roadways of our planet.


By using the voice of a young girl whose family has been a part of searching for whales, Lesa Cline-Ransome brings a valid energy to the story.  Speaking in sentences using word choices appropriate for her age, we are given the inside scoop on a typical day aboard a whale watching boat and keen insight into the life surrounding and on a whaler of long ago.  For each piece of information shared, a short explanation becomes a part of the conversation.  By beginning each portion of the past story with the words, before now, a continuity is established.  Here are two comparative passages.

The pier where our boat is docked is lined with booths that sell souvenirs, sunglasses, binoculars, and sunscreen.

Before now, the pier was lined with the shops of shipbuilders, candle makers, blacksmiths, and sail makers.  Blacksmiths made bolts, rings, chains, anchors, and many other ship-related necessities.  They also made whaling tools, such as toggles and lances.


The spots of red on the front of the matching dust jacket and book case add to the joy and warmth we can see on the faces of the whale watchers.  It also draws our attention to the narrator of this book.  On the back, to the left G. Brian Karas uses subdued shades of blue and a pale golden yellow as a background.  The image is divided in two with blue on the left and yellow on the right.  For the present, blue, we see the whale watching boat.  To the right is a whaling schooner floating on the water.  Beneath them both is a whale nearly stretching across the entire page.

Two images, one from the present first, and one from the past, second, are featured on the opening and closing endpapers.  Large expanses of sky and water highlight the glimpse of a whale spout or fluke.  Waves and spray surrounding the Cuffee, decks filled with people, as it moves through the water is framed in an oval beneath the title.

Throughout the body of the book the illustrations, rendered in gouache and acrylic with pencil on Arches paper, reflect a full color palette for the present and hues of the pale golden yellow, brown and black to designate the past.  Intricate details in both sets of pictures, the present and past, indicate research.  For the illustrations of now Karas extends them edge to edge on single pages or for one across two pages.  All the visuals of the past are framed with fine lines and large amounts of the background color.  It's as if we walking through a museum looking at snapshots of history.

One of my favorite sets of images is of the pier now and then.  There is an air of anticipation on all the faces of those waiting for the three-hour excursion out to sea in comparison to the people going about their business, walking in front of all the shop buildings catering to an industry focused on shipping.  It's interesting to see the architecture and styles of clothing side by side.  I have to also add the double-page spreads for the before and now sightings of the whale are a welcome change and very well depicted.


To see and read the depiction of our connection to whales from dependence to preservation in Whale Trails:  Before And Now written by Lesa Cline-Ransome with illustrations by G. Brian Karas is to be filled with hope.  The Author's Note by Lesa Cline-Ransome at the end is a must read.  She explains how her research for another manuscript and her daughter's field trip resulted in this book.  A short Glossary and Further Reading sections are included.  Readers will be fascinated with every page of this title.


To learn more about Lesa Cline-Ransome and G. Brian Karas please visit their websites by following the links attached to their names.  If you stop by the publisher's website you can see eight interior images from this book.  I think this book would pair well with two other whale titles recommended here, If You Want To See A Whale written by Julie Fogliano with illustrations by Erin E. Stead and Breathe written and illustrated by Scott Magoon.

I am adding a video Jess Keating recommended where Jane Goodall is being interviewed.  She is speaking not about whale watching but zoos.  Her mention of a whale at the end is significant to this post.  Jess pointed out:

...Jane Goodall's thoughts on the matter are spot-on, and I share her beliefs on the role of zoos.  One line in particular stands out to me, The role a zoo can play in education is huge if it does it right.



UPDATE:  Jess Keating has found another relevant article about zoos and the care of animals.  I think this relates to what I hope is a shift in thinking about animals in captivity.  If we can't see them in the wild, perhaps we can make their homes more wild-like.  The Future Of Zoos Is Being Nice To The Animals---Not Making It Easy To Watch Them