Ellington Was Not a Street

Ellington Was Not a Street (picture book), illustrated by Kadir Nelson, Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 2004.

Readability lexile: N/A

Summary:

In a reflective tribute to the African-American community of old, noted poet Ntozake Shange recalls her childhood home and the close-knit group of innovators that often gathered there. These men of vision, brought to life in the majestic paintings of artist Kadir Nelson, lived at a time when the color of their skin dictated where they could live, what schools they could attend, and even where they could sit on a bus or in a movie theater.

Yet in the face of this tremendous adversity, these dedicated souls and others like them not only demonstrated the importance of Black culture in America, but also helped issue in a movement that "changed the word." Their lives and their works inspire us to this day, and serve as a guide to how we approach the challenges of tomorrow. 

Evaluation of the text based on Donna Norton's characteristics of high quality literature (Norton, D. (2011):

This book could be used as high quality literature, because it serves for multiple avenues of learning. For example, this book could be used to discuss African Americans that made an impact that not even talked about in schools. Duke Ellington, for example, was a highlight in this book. I think it is important for students to have a well-rounded understanding of individuals who have made an impact on history. African Americans need to be credited too.

In the Ten Steps for Reviewing Children's Literature by Norton, I think this book addresses illustrations the best. This book allows you to picture the illustrations with the few words written on the page and vice versa. 

Literary Elements:

1. Genre: Historical Fiction

2. Theme: Appreciation; African American.

3. Characters: Historical African Americans 

Mini-Lesson:

The activity that I would do with my students is the activity that we did together in class. I would instruct my students to write down who they do not know as I am reading the book out loud. Once I had finished the book, I would then ask my students what they had written down. After discussing with them their responses, I would show them the very back of the book and show them all the historical African Americans that were mentioned in the book.

I think this book would be a great one to use in a classroom. I personally was not aware of some of the names mentioned in the book and it gave me the opportunity to learn about them. 

Target Audience: PreK-3

My personal reaction to this book was at first I did not like it. I had no idea where the story line was going or really what the book was about. After reading the book, I read in the back of it all the historical names mentioned in the book and had to opportunity to read more about them. I also enjoyed that the book was written from a poem.