January's Sparrows

January’s Sparrows

Written and Illustrated by Patricia Polacco

Philomel Books, 2009

92 Pages

Historical Fiction

          When January is beaten to death, Sadie and her family, the Crosswhites, must leave their plantation that they work on in Kentucky in fear of who will be beaten next. When they flee, Sadie must leave behind her most treasured item, her wooden sparrow that January carved for her. With the help of the Underground Railroad, Sadie and her family make it to freedom in Marshall, Michigan. They live in happiness until one day a package arrives at their door. To see what arrives and how it affects Sadie and her family, you will have to read this book. 

          Polacco uses pencil and marker to create her realistic and detailed illustrations. She uses color to depict the emotions of the characters in the book. The most impacting illustration is on page 59 when Sadie is flashes back to a baby being taken from its mom and girls chained waiting to be sold. The flash back is in black and white and you can see the raw emotion on the girls faces. The illustrations feature formal as well as informal text placement and the illustrations are double and single page. 

          This book would be a perfect choice when teaching about slavery and the Underground Railroad. This book would be appropriate for older elementary school students. To use this book, you would have to go over several vocabulary words before the students could fully understand the book. This book could also be used as an example of bravery. The Crosswhites were very brave to flee Kentucky for a chance at freedom. This book has not received any awards.