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36th out of 82 books
—
165 voters
Underground: Finding the Light to Freedom
A family silently crawls along the ground. They run barefoot through unlit woods, sleep beneath bushes, take shelter in a kind stranger's home. Where are they heading? They ahgggre heading for Freedom by way of the Underground Railroad.
Hardcover, 32 pages
Published
January 18th 2011
by Roaring Brook Press
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Audience: This book is for younger kindergarten through fourth grade, this picture book is limited on words but the point of the story is portrayed perfectly. This is a wonderful lesson in history for all students to learn. Learning about the Underground Railroad is an important event in history that everyone, all boys and girls need to know. This book is made for everyone including reluctant readers.
Appeal: The pictures are sketched and colored and pertain correctly to the words. Since this is...more
Appeal: The pictures are sketched and colored and pertain correctly to the words. Since this is...more
Audience: The audience for this book is primary elementary school. Because of the limited text and beautiful illustrations, I feel it would best fit 1st and 2nd graders.
Appeal: I think this book would appeal to 1st and 2nd graders. The pages have very limited words, so beginning readers will enjoy the book. Also, the illustrations are magnificent, and provide the story's meaning, which is helpful for younger readers. Although the story's nature is slightly mature, I feel these grades would learn...more
Appeal: I think this book would appeal to 1st and 2nd graders. The pages have very limited words, so beginning readers will enjoy the book. Also, the illustrations are magnificent, and provide the story's meaning, which is helpful for younger readers. Although the story's nature is slightly mature, I feel these grades would learn...more
Audience- The audience for this book could be either male or female. I think that this book would be great for younger students, preferably grades k-3. The book as a simple sentence on each page which makes it a very easy read for younger students. The pictures are also interesting and each picture corresponds very well with the sentence on that page.
Appeal- This book is appealing because it is a very simple and quick read. The pictures are also very interesting. You can pretty much tell what t...more
Appeal- This book is appealing because it is a very simple and quick read. The pictures are also very interesting. You can pretty much tell what t...more
Main characters: slave family
Setting: Underground Railroad
POV: group perspective
Summary:
Underground: Finding the Light to Freedom is a simple yet powerful story for young readers. At first, the story may be a little complex but as you read on there are simple short sentences that student can easily decode and reread to practice fluency. The book it self has beautiful illustrations with dark colors to portray the story of slaves trying to escape the darkness and finally achieve freedom.
In this bo...more
Setting: Underground Railroad
POV: group perspective
Summary:
Underground: Finding the Light to Freedom is a simple yet powerful story for young readers. At first, the story may be a little complex but as you read on there are simple short sentences that student can easily decode and reread to practice fluency. The book it self has beautiful illustrations with dark colors to portray the story of slaves trying to escape the darkness and finally achieve freedom.
In this bo...more
Genre: Children’s Picture Book: Historical
Summary: This is a Coretta Scott King Award book that retells the journey that slaves endured as part of the Underground Railroad.
a) This is very intensive story that is told with very minimal words. There are no set characters, but rather general families are featured. The illustrations help set the tone and mood of the story throughout the plot.
b) The Underground Railroad had an estimation of thousands upon thousands of individuals that used it as a me...more
Summary: This is a Coretta Scott King Award book that retells the journey that slaves endured as part of the Underground Railroad.
a) This is very intensive story that is told with very minimal words. There are no set characters, but rather general families are featured. The illustrations help set the tone and mood of the story throughout the plot.
b) The Underground Railroad had an estimation of thousands upon thousands of individuals that used it as a me...more
Underground: Finding the Light to Freedom by Shane W. Evan is the simple yet powerful story of the Underground Railroad. In the story, a family escapes into the night, creeping past the plantation owner. They are faced with many close calls and are taken in by members of the Underground Railroad. The journey is long and full of danger, but still they trek on. In the end, they are free.
This book, is recommended for grades 1-3, but I believe could be read in a 4th or 5th grade classroom, if explai...more
This book, is recommended for grades 1-3, but I believe could be read in a 4th or 5th grade classroom, if explai...more
When I first saw the cover of this book, I was unsure of what message and or ideas it would contain. After reading through the book and noticing that there are only a few words on each page but all of the pages were completely filled with pictures my thoughts about the book begin to change. Once I read the book, the message of the abolition of slavery was strong to me and I knew exactly at that point that this book would be an excellent history lesson for 3rd-5th grade students.
Although it is a...more
Although it is a...more
When first glancing at this book, I didn’t know what to think of it. This book only has a couple of words on each page and the title is very creative so it doesn’t give away what the book is about.
When you turn the pages, the whole book is very dark and it discusses sad things like running away and death, then when you get close to the end the pages turn from dark to bright yellow and it says that they have reached freedom. It wasn’t until this point that I realized this book was about slavery b...more
When you turn the pages, the whole book is very dark and it discusses sad things like running away and death, then when you get close to the end the pages turn from dark to bright yellow and it says that they have reached freedom. It wasn’t until this point that I realized this book was about slavery b...more
Underground by Shane W. Evans
Evans, Shane W. (2011) Underground, New York City: Roaring Press Books
Target Audience: PK-2
This Coretta Scott King award wining book traces the path of escaped slaves through the Underground Railroad. The minimal use of words and striking, bold and often ominous illustrations carry through the theme set forth in the book’s subtitle: Finding the Light to Freedom. Evan’s illustrations move from darkness to light as the characters move from Slavery to Freedom. The cour...more
Evans, Shane W. (2011) Underground, New York City: Roaring Press Books
Target Audience: PK-2
This Coretta Scott King award wining book traces the path of escaped slaves through the Underground Railroad. The minimal use of words and striking, bold and often ominous illustrations carry through the theme set forth in the book’s subtitle: Finding the Light to Freedom. Evan’s illustrations move from darkness to light as the characters move from Slavery to Freedom. The cour...more
Audience: Pre-K – 2nd grade; American history, the Underground Railroad, slavery, freedom
Appeal: The use of color and short, concise phrases create an emotional impact that even the youngest of readers should feel. The book starts with very dark images with the only light at first coming from the stars and moon. As the story progresses, there is light from a lantern until they final reach freedom, and we see the sun and an increased use of the color yellow. The sentences are seldom more than thr...more
Appeal: The use of color and short, concise phrases create an emotional impact that even the youngest of readers should feel. The book starts with very dark images with the only light at first coming from the stars and moon. As the story progresses, there is light from a lantern until they final reach freedom, and we see the sun and an increased use of the color yellow. The sentences are seldom more than thr...more
Underground currently won the Coretta Scott King award for this year. With last month being black history month I was very interested in reading this book.
I highly recommended reading this book to children during black history month or to teach about the underground railroad. The only reason why I did not give it a complete five stars is because it taught how it felt to be apart of the underground railroad from a slaves point of view in short words but it didn't teach enough history about it. I...more
I highly recommended reading this book to children during black history month or to teach about the underground railroad. The only reason why I did not give it a complete five stars is because it taught how it felt to be apart of the underground railroad from a slaves point of view in short words but it didn't teach enough history about it. I...more
Underground: Finding the Light to Freedom by Shane W. Evans is a picture book that describes the events of the Underground Railroad. The book contains very few words but is very effective in its story telling. The majority of the illustrations are in dark blue hues with occasionally pops of soft orange. As the slaves find their way to freedom, more pops of color shine to help them find their way.
This book has a quietly intense quality about it. When reading it to myself, I imagined the narrati...more
This book has a quietly intense quality about it. When reading it to myself, I imagined the narrati...more
Underground: Finding the Light to Freedom by Shane W. Evans is a simple yet powerful picturebook about the Underground Railroad.
A family of slaves is shown quietly escaping in darkness, and eluding capture by hiding, running and crawling. Helped by others, this family makes it to freedom.
Using about 30 words, this simple narrative makes the concept of the Underground Railroad accessible to young readers, and listeners. An Author's Note at the end of the book talks about slavery, gives info about...more
A family of slaves is shown quietly escaping in darkness, and eluding capture by hiding, running and crawling. Helped by others, this family makes it to freedom.
Using about 30 words, this simple narrative makes the concept of the Underground Railroad accessible to young readers, and listeners. An Author's Note at the end of the book talks about slavery, gives info about...more
This the first real "wow" book of 2011, a dynamic marriage of spare, haunting text and expressive illustrations that simultaneously works on multiple levels. For the young child, this is a first introduction to the Underground Railroad and the harsh realities of slavery. In reality Underground reads like a really basic pre-primer, with 2-4 word sentences making up the entirety of the text on most pages. (examples: "We run." "We make new friends." "Others help.") When taken in tandem with the pic...more
This book would be appropriate for children aging from four to eight years old. The illustrations does the talking in this story. There is limited text but even though there is not much to read the audience is then able to read the story through the illustrations. The emotions on the people's faces shows you what is going on and supports the text given. I thought this book would be cool to read in a kindergarten class because they still have short attention spans and reading a book with an abund...more
Genre: Historical picture book
Summary: A grave perspective of the journey towards freedom through the Underground Railroad.
Area of comment: Tone
B. The tone can be seen from every facet of this text; from the front cover to the back cover, the tone is so strong that one can literally sense the dark and fearful emotions of the characters throughout their journey. The illustrations deeply convey the harsh and emotional journey that so many were forced to travel in order to attain freedom.
C. From t...more
Summary: A grave perspective of the journey towards freedom through the Underground Railroad.
Area of comment: Tone
B. The tone can be seen from every facet of this text; from the front cover to the back cover, the tone is so strong that one can literally sense the dark and fearful emotions of the characters throughout their journey. The illustrations deeply convey the harsh and emotional journey that so many were forced to travel in order to attain freedom.
C. From t...more
Publication: 2011
Grade/Age: Grades K-5
Annotation: A book about the underground railroad, with great illustrations and few, but very powerful, words.
Themes: Slavery, freedom, helping others/community service
Ways to use the book:
Use to introduce the topics of slavery and the Underground Railroad.
For K-2nd grade - Use the book to practice their decoding skills and comprehension skills. Can be used as a read-aloud, or in a small reading group where the student can practice high frequency words, pict...more
Grade/Age: Grades K-5
Annotation: A book about the underground railroad, with great illustrations and few, but very powerful, words.
Themes: Slavery, freedom, helping others/community service
Ways to use the book:
Use to introduce the topics of slavery and the Underground Railroad.
For K-2nd grade - Use the book to practice their decoding skills and comprehension skills. Can be used as a read-aloud, or in a small reading group where the student can practice high frequency words, pict...more
Underground: Finding the Light to Freedom by Shane Evans is a simple, yet powerful story about the Underground Railroad most appropriate for young readers. This story is to complex for young audiences, but the story uses simple sentences such as, “We run.” “We crawl.” “We rest” the perfect combination of sentences encouraging literacy development. Beautiful illustrations of dark blue and blacks portray the story of a family of slaves trying to escape the darkness and seek freedom. Evan’s uses a...more
Underground: Finding the light to Freedom was a very enlightening story. This story would be a very good book to read with children in order to teach them about slavery and allow them to ask questions they may have. Due to the fact that there was little words throughout the story the illustrations became very important. With that the illustrations were drawn looking, in the sense that you could see their brush strokes. ALthough it was drawn there was still a sense of texture that allowed the rea...more
The blue collage illustrations are hauntingly appropriate, so much so that I got goosebumps around page five, and they didn't go away until the ending when my emotions shifted over to relieved tears. There is no question that this deserved the Coretta Scott King illustration award, and I can only hope it was just a whisker's breadth away from a Caldecott Honor because Underground is a superlative example of how art can bring powerful, new life to a familiar story.
Evans' simple text also shines....more
Evans' simple text also shines....more
Audience: I think this book would be great for students in grades Kindergarten-2nd grade
Appeal: The colors on the pages go along with the words. In the beginning, during the escape, the pages are black, gray and white. Then toward the end, when the slaves are free, the colors change to yellow and brown. The book has few words so the young students are not overwhelmed with information.
Application: I think that this book would be a great way to teach to students about a piece of history. The boo...more
Appeal: The colors on the pages go along with the words. In the beginning, during the escape, the pages are black, gray and white. Then toward the end, when the slaves are free, the colors change to yellow and brown. The book has few words so the young students are not overwhelmed with information.
Application: I think that this book would be a great way to teach to students about a piece of history. The boo...more
Jun 05, 2011
Lisa Vegan
rated it
2 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
kids who already know about the Underground Railroad, for further discussion, I suppose
I wanted to like this book; I wanted to love it.
It’s about the Underground Railroad, and there’s an inspiring and informative author’s note at the end.
If the story and pictures had wowed me as much as that note, and given the subject matter, this book would have likely been a 5 or 4 star book for me.
But I thought it was a weird little book and it wasn’t really my cup of tea.
The illustrations are interestingly minimalist but I can’t say I enjoyed them, though they did fit this very short story w...more
It’s about the Underground Railroad, and there’s an inspiring and informative author’s note at the end.
If the story and pictures had wowed me as much as that note, and given the subject matter, this book would have likely been a 5 or 4 star book for me.
But I thought it was a weird little book and it wasn’t really my cup of tea.
The illustrations are interestingly minimalist but I can’t say I enjoyed them, though they did fit this very short story w...more
3 likes · like · see review
This is a book about a family living in the bonds of slavery. They decide to find their freedom by making a dangerous attempt to escape. After escaping, they run into safe havens and friends of the Underground Railroad. Along the way, many of the family members face fear and fatigue, but once they can wake up free to decide their own fate, they keep going. With this book, it strongly relies on the illustrations to communicate to young readers the challenges and risks that slaves took in order to...more
Underground is a breathtaking book, not because of the text this time around, but the illustrations in this one are ridiculously amazing! The entire book is driven along by the paintings that truly tell this story, that being of a family escaping slavery by way of the underground railroad. The use of color in the illustrations is really what makes the book come to life, and while the text on each page is minimal, you still feel the tension in the story as the characters attempt to reach their fr...more
Underground: Finding the Light to Freedom is the story of the underground railroad and the journey African Americans had to make in order to gain their freedom from slavery. Families had to escape at night in the dark and although they were fearful, being quiet was necessary for their survival. In addition, slaves had to run, crawl and help others along the way. Although some people do not make it, the slaves eventually reach freedom. The illustrations in this book definitely tell the reader wha...more
This book explains the story of how the Underground Railroad was a big part of the abolishment of slavery. This book has hardly any words in it and mainly consists of extremely detailed pictures. The pictures are very large and take up entire pages. Personally, I found the coloring of the pictures to be the most powerful part of the book. For example, the book begins with dark illustrations of African Americans looking very tired and serious and ends with bright illustrations of African American...more
Audience: This book would be appropriate for early elementary aged students. It is a simple read that both boys and girls would enjoy.
Appeal: This book would appeal to many children, but african american students in particular. The book is easy to read and has great corresponding pictures. Would be a good choice for any student who is interested in slave times and the underground railroad.
Application: I would use this book while doing a history lesson over slavery and the underground railroad. T...more
Appeal: This book would appeal to many children, but african american students in particular. The book is easy to read and has great corresponding pictures. Would be a good choice for any student who is interested in slave times and the underground railroad.
Application: I would use this book while doing a history lesson over slavery and the underground railroad. T...more
This book covers a topic that one would not necessarily think to cover with children: the Underground Railroad. I was very surprised at this book, as I would never have thought to teach young students about such a heavy topic. However, thinking back to when I was in elementary school, the Underground Railroad was a topic that we covered in fifth grade. I feel that if a teacher were to cover such a topic with his or her students, this book would be a really good way to give an overview of what it...more
Underground:Finding the Light to Freedom provides the reader with an overview of the underground system slaves used to travel from the south to the north during the 1800s. This book is almost a wordless picture book in that there are only two or three words every other page. With the minimal use of words and general overview of the concept this book would be best fitted for very young readers.
The stark contrast between the light and dark colors on the pages provides the reader with the sense of...more
The stark contrast between the light and dark colors on the pages provides the reader with the sense of...more
1 like · like · see review
Using simple words and phrases such as "We run" and "We rest" and minimalist illustrations filled with blues and blacks and triangles representing the whites of the eyes of escaping slaves, this picture book portrays vividly how the Underground Railroad worked. As they draw nearer to freedom and the end of their long, harrowing journey, the illustrator includes yellows to indicate the sun and the hope with which these men, women, and children make their way north. All sorts of things happen as t...more
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Shane W. Evans is the illustrator of several children's books, including HOMEMADE LOVE by bell hooks and OSCEOLA: MEMORIES OF A SHARECROPPER'S DAUGHTER by Alan Govenar. He lives in Missouri.
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Feb 14, 2012 07:33am