White Socks Only - Online Resource (2)

This book is written by Evelyn Coleman and illustrated by Tyrone Geter. It was published in 1996 by Albert Whitman & Company.

Lexile Level: AD630L     Ages: 5-9

http://www.storylineonline.net/white-socks-only/

Summary:

     White Socks Only is about a young girl who asked her grandmother to go to town by herself, in turn her grandmother told her a story about the time she went into town and had an experience with the "Chicken Man". The story went: she went into town with two eggs in her pocket to test if they will fry on the hot pavement and they did. She was ever so hot and decided to get a drink. Not knowing any better she took a  drink from a water fountain that has a sign "Whites Only". A large white man came over and yelled at her, as she was getting yelled at there were a group of black people coming to drink out of the fountain. Then, the "Chicken Man" came and took a long drink from the fountain and everyone went silent. After that the "Whites Only" sign was removed from the fountain. 

Evaluation and Illustration:

      I found this book to be high quality text. It is about a very important topic in America's history, segregation. The story shows segregation through a child's eyes. She did not know any better, she just wanted a drink of water. The great thing about this story is the colored bystanders all took a stand with this young girl to make a change. It gives an insight to students about the inequality between whites and colored back in history and that its things like drinking from a fountain that helped improve equality. 

     The illustrations in this story are child friendly and told the story accurately. The illustrations were very reflective of African-American features. The only thing I thought was a bit odd was that the white man in the story appeared to have an African-American skin color and features.

Literary Elements:

     The main characters in this story were the young girl and her grandmother. Some of the other characters are the "Chicken Man", the white man, and all the bystanders. The setting of this story is in America back in the 1900's-1930's where cities were segregated. Lastly, the themes of this story is strength, curious, innocent, strong-willed, and perseverance.

1. Main characters: the girl and her grandmother

2. Setting: America in the 1900's-1930's

3. Themes: Perseverance, strong, brave

In the Classroom: 

     I would use this book in the classroom to bring up the serious topic, segregation. As a class we will talk about how students feel about segregation and why there were signs that said "Whites Only". This is a great story to introduce Americas past and how it has changed over time. It would be a great story to lead into a lesson on historical movements about the African-American community in the United States and social justice in the world today.

Coleman, E., & Geter, T. (1996). White socks only. Morton Grove, IL: A. Whitman.