Way Up and Over Everything
Author: Alice McGill
Illustrator: Judy Daly
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Books
Year of Publication: 2008
Genre: Folktale/ Myth
Horn Book or Kirkus Reviews rating: 1
Summary: A slave named Jane watches as five new slaves arrive at the plantation. At dinner time Jane does not see the new slaves. She tries to warn them that the master is looking for them. By the time both her and the master find them they are floating in air and flying away to freedom.
Summary of Professional Reviews: Hornbook gave this book a rating of 1. The reviewers really enjoyed how the illustrations went so well with the text. They appreciated that the figures in the book were, "slim and spare in an airy, stylized setting that enhances the glorious sense of freedom seized against all odds".
Review by Kitty Anthony: I believe that this book is simple enough to tell readers about the basis of slavery without overwhelming the readers with the reality of slavery. The text is a little advanced for new readers but older children would certainly be able to read and understand what is going on in the book. The text is very descriptive in describing what is going on throughout the book so that children could picture the events even if they did not have the illustrations. The illustrations are also very colorful and detailed. However the outlines of the characters are rather simple to perhaps represent the simplicity of the people and how they were not seen as real people by the slave owners.
This book would be useful when teaching… This is an excellent book to read to children as part of a social studies unit on slavery. This will help children get the basic information about slavery and what happened to slaves on plantations. This book would also be useful when teaching students how to figure out character emotions. The teacher can focus on each main character and have the students figure out how they are feeling throughout the book.
Illustrator: Judy Daly
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Books
Year of Publication: 2008
Genre: Folktale/ Myth
Horn Book or Kirkus Reviews rating: 1
Summary: A slave named Jane watches as five new slaves arrive at the plantation. At dinner time Jane does not see the new slaves. She tries to warn them that the master is looking for them. By the time both her and the master find them they are floating in air and flying away to freedom.
Summary of Professional Reviews: Hornbook gave this book a rating of 1. The reviewers really enjoyed how the illustrations went so well with the text. They appreciated that the figures in the book were, "slim and spare in an airy, stylized setting that enhances the glorious sense of freedom seized against all odds".
Review by Kitty Anthony: I believe that this book is simple enough to tell readers about the basis of slavery without overwhelming the readers with the reality of slavery. The text is a little advanced for new readers but older children would certainly be able to read and understand what is going on in the book. The text is very descriptive in describing what is going on throughout the book so that children could picture the events even if they did not have the illustrations. The illustrations are also very colorful and detailed. However the outlines of the characters are rather simple to perhaps represent the simplicity of the people and how they were not seen as real people by the slave owners.
This book would be useful when teaching… This is an excellent book to read to children as part of a social studies unit on slavery. This will help children get the basic information about slavery and what happened to slaves on plantations. This book would also be useful when teaching students how to figure out character emotions. The teacher can focus on each main character and have the students figure out how they are feeling throughout the book.