School Library Journal» Civil War

Pick of the Day: Henry Clay and the Struggle for the Union (DVD)

SLJ — Fri, 04 Jan 2013 14:00:07 +0000

Henry Clay and the Struggle for the Union (Series). 3 DVDs. 20 min. ea. with tchr’s. guides online. Prod. by Witnessing History. Dist. by TMW Media. 2011, 2012 release. ISBN unavail. $69.95 ea. Includes: The Formation of the Union and Its Early Challenges; The Missouri Compromise of 1820 to the Tariff Compromise of 1833; The Compromise of 1850 to the Civil War.
Gr 6 Up–Henry Clay served in the House of Representatives and the United States Senate and worked to preserve the Union against the destructive forces of the slavery issue. The narration emphasizes the key events between 1820 and 1860 that led the nation to war. Using dramatic re-creations, historical documents, maps, period photographs and art, and stirring background music, the well-edited series brings the years before the Civil War to life. The seeds of the Civil War were planted at the time of the American Revolution and the writing of the Constitution. An industrial North surpassed the agricultural South in wealth and population. Westward expansion, first into the territories of the Louisiana Purchase, and later into land taken from Mexico in 1848, compounded the issues and forced the country to decide if slavery would spread to these new areas. Clay, the Great Compromiser, offered three compromises—the Missouri Compromise of 1820, the Tariff Compromise of 1833, and the Compromise of 1859—that addressed these issues and forestalled the Civil War for 40 years. Well-produced, fact-filled, and classroom-friendly, these programs should be a part of all library collections, especially during this sesquicentennial of the Civil War.–Patricia Ann Owens, Illinois Eastern Community Colleges, Mt. Carmel

Pick of the Day: Abe Lincoln’s Dream

SLJ — Wed, 19 Dec 2012 14:00:29 +0000

SMITH, Lane. Abe Lincoln’s Dream. illus. by author. 32p. Roaring Brook. 2012. RTE $16.99. ISBN 978-1-59643-608-4.
Gr 2-5–A picture book that transforms the 16th president from a seemingly austere, severe figure into a sympathetic character. A young African American girl named Quincy encounters the ghost of Abe Lincoln on a school tour of the White House. He tells the child about a recurring dream in which he is sailing a ship on a stormy sea, unsure of where he’s heading. (The afterword explains that the president reported having this nightmare several times, including the evening before his assassination.) In an attempt to cheer him, Quincy reassures Lincoln that the state of the nation has vastly improved since his presidency, and the two take flight on a whirlwind tour. Dynamic spreads of the Statue of Liberty, Mount Rushmore, and an American flag planted on the Moon–digitally rendered in oil painting and pen-and-ink–reflect Quincy’s assertion that “‘overall the founding fathers would be proud of our progress.’” The dark palette and parchmentlike background give the book a traditional feel, but Smith adds a sense of whimsy through his creative use of fonts and the witty tone of the narrative. Despite the cartoonish style, Lincoln is fully humanized: visible pen marks that indicate wrinkles and bags under his eyes suggest his anguish over the state of the union, while his penchant for corny jokes (“‘Ghosts are no good at telling fibs….You can see right through them’”) will endear him to readers. Pair this picture book with Maira Kalman’s Looking at Lincoln (Penguin, 2012) to give students a portrait of the man that transcends mere facts.–Mahnaz Dar, School Library Journal

Pick of the Day: Unspoken

SLJ — Mon, 19 Nov 2012 14:17:03 +0000

COLE, Henry. Unspoken: A Story from the Underground Railroad. illus. by author. 32p. CIP. Scholastic. Nov. 2012. RTE $16.99. ISBN 978-0-545-39997-5. LC 2011043583.
Gr 3-8–Gorgeously rendered in soft, dark pencils, this wordless book is reminiscent of the naturalistic pencil artistry of Maurice Sendak and Brian Selznick, but unique in its accurate re-creation of a Civil War-era farm in northwestern Virginia. On the dedication page, readers see a star quilt on a split rail fence, symbolizing the North Star. Confederate soldiers arrive on horseback and a farmer’s daughter’s lingering gaze betrays her intuition of their visit. She goes about her duties of feeding the animals and gathering harvested vegetables. In the recently harvested cornstalks propped up in the corner of the barn, she hears a rustling and sees an eye. Superb visual storytelling shows her hands time and time again offering a piece of corn bread, apple pie, a leg of chicken, each time on a small checkered kerchief, to the young, hidden runaway. The soldiers return with a poster: “Wanted! Escaped! Reward!” These words call out in the otherwise wordless book, and readers feel their power. Parallels between the fugitive and the farmer’s daughter establish themselves visually when the latter gazes from behind a door, terrified at this threat. An author’s note details the Civil War stories Cole heard as a young boy and underscores his intention of showing not the division, anger, and violence of the Civil War, but “the courage of everyday people who were brave in quiet ways.”–Sara Lissa Paulson, American Sign Language and English Lower School PS 347, New York City