Title:

Miss Crandall’s School for Young Ladies & Little Misses of Color                                                          Picture Book #4

Author:

Elizabeth Alexander and Marilyn Nelson

Illustrator:

Floyd Cooper

Publisher:

Wordsong (Boyds Mills Press)

Date:

2007

ISBN:

1590784561

# of Pages (Readership):

48 pp. (‘Tween/YA)

Genre

Historical Fiction – Poetry – Picture Book

Diversity

African Americans

Plot Summary:

A white Quaker teacher, Miss Prudence Crandall, opened a school in 1834 for African American girls in Canterbury, Connecticut. The white racist community got up in arms, poisoned the school’s well, set fire to the schoolhouse, brought a law suit against Miss Crandall, and eventually closed the school a year and a half later.

Illustrations:

Cooper’s realistic watercolor illustrations capture the courage of both teacher and students as they persevere to receive the education they deserve in a racist, hostile town.

Theme(s):

Even the most morally righteousness cannot always triumph over bigotry.

Personal Response:

Miss Crandall’s compassion and the determination of her African American students, the daughters of newly freed slaves, shines through in these poems. The authors’ note describes their collaborative writing process, including their innovation with the sonnet form.

Curricular or Programming Connections:

Racism

Literacy education

African American/U.S. history

Perseverance