The Voice That Challenged a Nation: Marian Anderson and the Struggle for Equal Rights

The Voice That Challenged a Nation:

Marian Anderson and the Struggle for Equal Rights

Freedman, Russell. The Voice That Challenged a Nation: Marian Anderson and the Struggle for Equal Rights. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2004. ISBN 9780547480343

Summary:

Denied. Discriminated. Dedicated. Daring. Dignified. All of these words have one thing in common – Marian Anderson. Marian held a power in her contralto voice that couldn’t be denied, even though she was denied many times during the struggle for equal rights. Her influential, angelic voice helped open the ears and eyes of many and created waves during the Civil Rights Era.

Analysis:

Russell Freedman has crafted a beautiful complete biography of Marian Anderson. Through his words, the reader travels along chronologically with Marian from her early years in elementary school to her ground breaking appearance at the Lincoln Memorial on Easter Sunday in 1939 and then on to Marian’s later successes in song.

Freedman’s words are smooth and flow as well as any well-written novel. This biography lends itself to be read completely from cover to cover, or small snippets can be selected through the use of the table of contents or index. The incorporation of actual black and white photographs of Anderson and the events that helped shape her allow the reader to experience Marian Anderson’s world. Russell Freedman has also provided images of actual awards, playbills/programs, and concert invites almost as if this is a mini museum captured in print.

Each two-page spread contains several images or photos. The photographs are often set to the side or the top/bottom of the page as to not interrupt the text. In order to draw your attention to a particularly important image, Freedman places these images at the forefront often covering one or more pages. For example, the picture of Marian Anderson singing on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial completely covers the two-page spread. At this point, the reader is forced to stop and take it all in.

At the end of the biography, Freedman provides bibliographic information for pictures, discography, and notes. It is very apparent that he has done a very thorough job with his research. This definitely supports his accuracy and authority as a bibliographic author. Thanks to authors like Freedman, we are able to experience the lives of important historical figures that are often overlooked by the traditional history books.

Awards and Review Excerpts:

- 2005 Newbery Honor Book

- 2005 Orbis Pictus Honor Book

- 2005 Robert F. Sibert Medal Winner

From Kirkus Reviews: "a fully realized portrait of a musical artist and her times...an outstanding, handsome biography. Freedman at his best."

From Publishers Weekly: "Freedman provides thrilling accounts...copious quotes...allow her resonant voice--and personal grace--to fill these pages...An engrossing biography."

From Booklist: "In his signature prose, plain yet eloquent. Freedman tells Anderson's triumphant story . . . Older readers and adults will want this too."

From Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books: "Freedman offers the story of a movement encapsulated in the biography of an extraordinary African-American woman."

Connections:

Collect and share other biographies and informational books by Russell Freedman, including:

- Freedom Walkers: The Story of the Montgomery Bus Boycott ISBN 9780823421954

- Lincoln: A Photobiography ISBN 9780395518489

- Eleanor Roosevelt: A Life of Discovery ISBN 9780395845202

- The Wright Brothers: How They Invented the Airplane ISBN 9780823410828

- Becoming Ben Franklin ISBN 9780823423743

Find and share other books about Marian Anderson, such as:

- When Marian Sang: The True Recital of Marian Anderson by Pam Munoz Ryan ISBN

  9780439269674

- Marian Anderson: A Voice Uplifted by Victoria Garrett Jones ISBN 9781402742392

- Marian Anderson by Jane Sutcliffe ISBN 9780760786437

Research other important Civil Rights supporters, such as Martin Luther King, Jr. and Rosa Parks.

Research and discuss Marian Anderson and Eleanor Roosevelt’s friendship. Discuss the power of friendship. Connect to and share Jacqueline Woodson’s The Other Side ISBN 9780399231162.

Find recordings and listen to Marian Anderson. Discuss how her voice makes you feel. Ponder why her voice is/was so powerful.

Watch Marian Anderson sing at the Lincoln Memorial on Easter - April 9,1939 at Marian Anderson - April 9, 1939

*Image borrowed from www.barnesandnoble.com

Let freedom ring… Thank you, Marian!

~ Mandy

Kakapo Rescue: Saving the World's Strangest Parrot

Kakapo Rescue: Saving the World’s Strangest Parrot

Montgomery, Sy & Bishop, Nic. Kakapo Rescue: Saving the World’s Strangest Parrot. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Books for Children, 2010. ISBN 9780618494170

Summary:

Have you ever heard of a parrot that cannot fly, growls like a dog, comes out at night, smells of honey, and is the heaviest of its species? Well, Codfish Island in New Zealand is home to the world’s strangest parrot known as the kakapo (KAR-ka-poe). The kakapo get’s its name from the Maori language – kaka meaning parrot and po meaning night. It’s a beautiful, yet highly endangered parrot of the night. Currently, there are less than one hundred kakapo* alive. Kakapo Rescue: Saving the World’s Strangest Parrot tells the story of this amazing parrot, while following the inquiry, investigation, research, and time spent learning about and trying to save this rare and vanishing bird.

*There is no s added in the Maori language for plurals (p. 3).

Analysis:

Sy Montgomery and Nic Bishop’s photo essay of the kakapo, which is also part of the “Scientists in the Field” series, will fascinate readers. Once I picked up the book, I couldn’t put it down. The photo essay is arranged so that the reader can follow the story of the researchers chronologically through their investigation or so that a reader can go to a particular chapter to learn more about a specific topic. The index is also a helpful tool when looking for specific information.

The great appeal to this book initially comes from Bishop’s captivating photos that not only capture the kakapo in its natural habitat but also follow the researchers on their journey and investigation of the world’s strangest parrot - the kakapo. First, you are immediately grabbed by the up close photograph on the cover of the endearing face of a kakapo. The colors are vivid and vibrant, and each photograph allows for beautiful detail that might not be captured through another media. Each two-page spread typically contains at least two to four photographs. In many cases, one photograph fills an entire side of the two-page spread in order to allow the reader to be fully submerged in the topic. Through their words and images, Montgomery and Bishop have the ability to make the reader feel as though they are right there alongside the researchers – helping, watching, touching, and interacting with the kakapo parrots. This is a beautiful photo essay that will captivate many readers – young or old!

Awards and Review Excerpts:

- 2011 Robert F. Sibert Medal Winner

- Kirkus Reviews Best Books for Children 2010

- Horn Book Magazine’s Fanfare – Best Nonfiction – 2010

From Booklist, starred review: "Montgomery’s delight in her subject is contagious, and throughout her enthusiastic text, she nimbly blends scientific and historical facts with immediate, sensory descriptions of fieldwork. Young readers will be fascinated."

From School Library Journal, starred review: “Readers who enjoyed this author/photographer team’s The Tarantula Scientist (2007) or Quest for the Tree Kangaroo (2006, both Houghton) will gobble up this tribute to ecological science in action."

From The Bulletin: "More than most books about environmentalism or endangered species, this will encourage kids to consider how hands-on action can genuinely make a difference and how scientific contributions can be made by people who never go near a test tube."

Connections:

Collect and share other photo essays by Sy Montgomery, such as:

- The Tarantula Scientist ISBN 9780618915774

- The Octopus Scientists ISBN 9780544232709

- The Tapir Scientist: Saving South American’s Largest Mammal ISBN 9780547815480

- The Snake Scientist ISBN 9780618111190

- Quest for the Tree Kangaroo: An Expedition to the Cloud Forest in New Guinea ISBN

  9780547248929

Collect and share other books about highly endangered animals. Discuss the importance of the researchers/scientists. If you have access to a researcher/scientist, you might want to invite him/her to share with the students the importance of his/her work.

- Vanishing Act: Endangered Animals and Disappearing Environments by Art Wolfe ISBN

  9781937359669

- Hope for Animals and Their World: How Endangered Species Are Being Rescued from the 

  Brink by Jane Goodall ISBN 9780446581783

Allow students to research an animal of their choice and create a photo essay inspired by Sy Montgomery. If available, allow students to learn more about photography and try to capture their own images through a lens.

Learn more about Sy Montgomery at her website: http://symontgomery.com

Using Sy Montgomery’s website, utilize some of her lesson ideas for Kakapo Rescue at http://symontgomery.com/video/. There she shares a web of ideas for lessons - http://www.symontgomery.com/wp-content/downloads/WebOfIdeas.pdf and also provides many great handouts.

*Image borrowed from www.barnesandnoble.com

Let’s hear it for the birds! Growl!

~ Mandy