Let It Go.. Frozen..

I was very excited today when I saw this and immediately showed it to Olivia who responded with a massive cheesy grin.

Olivia is mad on Frozen like all kids, so she is now on a mission to learn the song on her keyboard.

Click on the picture and it will take you to this fabulous tutorial

Dancing the Dream Poetry week with Michael jackson

The kids are massive fans of Michael Jackson and they have chosen a poem a day from his poetry
book Dancing the Dream - Michael Jackson

Michael Jackson was an extraordinary person in many ways and his poetry always blows me away, such depth and feeling, his poetry always stirs me, so I am pleased the twins have discovered the book sitting  on the shelf.

What comes of this will be exciting, discovering and learning with Michael Jackson....

My commentry on the tale of my encounter with a racist.

I had an interesting experience on FB over the past few days as someone had taken offence to a post that I posted regarding Australia Day that I found whilst looking for material to present Australia Day to the twins for our days lesson, which you can find out here what we eventually did cover.

I don't normally write about my experiences but I thought I would share it anyway as it may be amusing to some at how silly these people actually do come across.

The post was one of two that I posted, the first one was a post of a few descendants of Aborigines giving their thought on Australia day entitled Aboriginal People Respond To “Australia Day”

The caption that I chose to put on the post was quotes from people in the video:-
'Australia Day, a day that marks the beginning of the rapes and massacres!... 'Happy survival Day'.....'

What came after was quite an interesting response:-

An interesting comment to say the least. I am not quite sure from what angle this person is coming from, I can only take a guess from their next lot of postings, they are supremacist who believes that only the European perspective should be told, and the perspectives and history of those that had lands grabbed and had to suffer the atrocities they did, should be silenced and their history forgotten, one sided history is what I am guessing they are asking for here.

To be fair I don't think the person was being particularly supremacist at this point,  I just thought they where a bit 'not very bright' on these topics, and are just a bit of a control freak in what they want to see posted and not posted.

There are campaigns for the date to be changed as many people find it offensive and insensitive to be celebrating on such a day as 26th January, taking into account the events that occurred, people are asking for it to be moved so that the achievements of all Australians can be celebrated, people are not asking it to be banned, why should a country not celebrate their achievements?

The reasons why some aboriginal people find it offensive can be found here

So yes whilst there has been achievements, great achievements at that, there where still victims of that achievement, and why should their story be forgotten because it makes some people uncomfortable, it is part of history and that cannot be erased as much as some may think it should be, and the natives find it offensive so who is anyone to tell them what they should be offended by, that is just ludicrous.

The next posting was quite a long one, normally I would just block the person and forget about them but I thought as it was on my profile and they where clearly trying to give me a message that they did not want me posting anything referring to  historical events so I though I would let them continue voicing their opinion and see if we could find out why? unfortunately not much of an opinion came out other than that they where racist.

Here is the beginning of the long posting which resulted in an onslaught of abuse.

'Forget about it and move on' was the first comment, I was slightly perplexed about that comment considering it was 'Australia Day' and there where thousands of people celebrating and remembering history, their orders to forget about it and move on where very odd, and again not sure where the person was coming from, as you can see from my comment I always find people who think chunks of history should be forgotten very odd people and the only conclusion that can be made about people who come out with such comments is that they feel superior and believe that any history of a people or people's other than white Europeans is unimportant, and that these people are inferior to them and should not matter, so why bother people with their stories just forget about them and move on. 

As you can see in this case I assume if they had better grasp of the English language they would have actually said something more like 'its fine to celebrate Australia Day but only tell the invaders story not the natives story'....

My opinion is that days like Australia Day are perfect opportunities to remember those victims and their ancestors and raise awareness of their plights and injustices they still face today.

So my only conclusion to arrive at is that they are a white supremacist.

 The plot thickens with their next posting:-

Now at this point I couldn't work out if they where just deranged or not, History causes you pain?.. I was creasing with laughter at this point and wondering how anyone could come up with that conclusion........It started to dawn on me at this point that they clearly where not a fan of History and suffered from a bout of amnesia, as you will probably have already spotted. They claim to be not giving me 'abrupt orders' but unfortunately their post of 'forget it and move on' is  kind of exactly that, What was more interesting is who this person thinks they are, telling me what I can and cannot be interested in, that was a bit creepy to be fair... 

The comment of join the real world was also a bit odd, what real world is that then? I hope he wasn't referring to 'his' real world as it looks a bit messy in there, and not one I would actually want to join in with.

Not really sure where their head is at this point but clearly it was in a mess.... If it was wearing him down then I am not sure why he would not just unfriend, so he did not have to see it any more, his problem would have been solved, if he meant wearing 'me' down I would be interested to know how he came to that conclusion maybe he posses super powers that no one else has and can actually look into someone emotional state and tell them how they are feeling, wow he could make a mint from possessing such a super power, although I wouldn't pay him as his diagnosis was more than a tad off.

This person was just dribbling really because they obviously don't like history very much and preferred if I did not post any more, am not sure why they just did not unfriend instead, maybe they are just rude like that and would prefer to attempt to control what people like and dislike, who knows, looking into the mind of a mad man is like looking into the abyss

And then in bounds in Mr I am.....this is where it really gets funny...

Now I have to admit this took me by surprise not just because it was a full day after the exchange with the first Mr I Am bounding in and trying to tell me what I can and cannot do, but by the sheer hate in his language in the posting, I felt really sorry for him as he must have sat there reading and been enraged that anyone would have the audacity to speak back to his friend and not do as they where told. 

By the looks of it the fact I was none white seemed to have a profound affect on him, he seems to have the opinion that calling someone a white supremacist is racist, lol... Yes I know ludicrous but there you have it, as I said looking in to the mind of a mad man is like looking in the abyss. Maybe someone could give him a dictionary or someone could explain what the word racist means:-

Racism is prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against someone of a different race based on the belief that one's own race is superior,

I am not sure that posting about historical social injustice based on race is actually classed as 'Racist'.. ..Or pointing out to someone that they are a white supremacist due to their superior attitudes against what should and should not be shared regarding history.

Although we are well aware of racists tactics in any discussion like this they tend to try and turn the racist card away from themselves, why I am not sure because it is seldom very effective.

I was quite excited by his 'Cracker' 'Honkey' comment, not often you get people admitting openly to be a cracker in such an open and honest way but I have to give him his due, he was honest and never let his self labelling let him down throughout.

So I though I would play to his self labelled persona... Naughty but it was a bit of fun with the plonker....

We had already established that this person is not a full shilling in any sense of the word, so a little play was in order, what came next really had his true colours shining through... It would have been offensive and I could have easily got offended that any lowlife would bring my children into anything but as I had already established they where clearly suffering with a mental health issue it was more of a feeling of pity I had for them, as you can see they where clearly getting angry and upset that I found them amusing and was now mocking their superiority complex.

The next bit also had me creasing.... 

I have to confess.... he is correct, I am not a 'Mancunian' by birth I am from Derby, a Derby lass I am, but as Manchester has pretty much been my home since toddlerdom, I class myself as a 'Mancunian'... and no I don't see Bananas growing in Manchester but if he wanted some, Tesco usually have them stocked up...

I have to admit again, not something I have actually attempted to ever do, type and swing from a tree, maybe this could be something I can put on my bucket list of things to do before I die....it could be fun, maybe I could even set a world record and be the first... Great idea, given me something to think about....

I have to say, there are plenty of supremacists that equally cause problems if not more so....and I am pretty sure Mississippi is being re-built slowly but surely over time, and I would have though that would be an economic factor and not much to do with the 'niggers being on welfare'....  Pretty unfair analysis of Mississippi really....

This next one just proved he was dragging things from the bottom of the bag now..

Not much commentary on this really.... not sure why he would want to swing bananas or send them back to Africa, I don't think they actually need any more Bananas, I am pretty sure they have enough...

That was pretty much it, but I think we all got the message that he doesn't like historical oppression posts being posted, probably due to his low mentality and thoughts that posting a post on such topics is racist.

It really does show up the poor education system really when you have products like that coming out the other end, but I can't really blame the education he received as he is well into his 40's now and has had plenty of years to educate himself in the ways of the world.

I often wonder what makes someone turn out like that and always come back to the 'looking into a mad man's mind is like looking in to the abyss', so even slightly looking into their world is not something on my agenda, although I do believe Louis Theroux once did an episode on these kinds of people, might be worth checking out, the documentary which is 70 minutes long is here

There are also some other documentaries around racism this one on a history of racism, which I have linked here if you are interested, I have not actually watched this one yet but I will find time in the coming weeks to take a peek, it could be interesting..

However as we have seen some human traits are not very attractive and once unleashed can be pretty damaging to ones mental health, I think these people are to be pitied and would maybe benefit from some kind of mental health support.

Although it did feel like they where somewhat mentally immature and maybe a little mentally impaired and had not realised they where actually in their 40's, their supremacy traits are something that cannot really be excused even as funny as they came across, these people are a scourge on society and really do need to be controlled in some way but as that is not a possibility I will take advantage of this opportunity to share my story instead......

I will leave you with this nice speech....

The Australian Dream...

Internet Safety

Internet Safety has been on the agenda this week.

The kids are using the internet more and more independently these days, they love nothing more than to surf the net looking for the things that have taken their interest.

Oliver was playing on the school of dragons and was very excited that he could speak to other people and then another incident occurred where Oliver and Olivia had made some toilet paper sculptures that they where preparing to paint and they wanted to do a Blue Peter style video of them making these sculptures, whilst we where doing the video Oliver shouted a cute line near the end about people can buy these and they can come to..... our full address.... I kind of thought it was time to have a talk about safety and what kinds of information is and what information is not acceptable to give out to people that we do not know personally.

We have had the stranger danger talk on many occasions but it still felt like another a step towards them loosing their innocence, another step towards growing up and leaving childhood behind, another chip off the old innocence block.

We had the chat about people can sometimes not be who they say they are, and how there are some people out there who can cause us harm by steeling personal information, or someone could send us viruses, addiction to the internet and spending to much time online, we talked about bullying and we talked about some of the things we can do to keep us safe.

I don't want to drag this out and make a huge deal out of it putting them under pressure, but I have decided to do this in burst over a few days, we have had the talk and now over the next few days I will introduce them to an internet safety site called Kids Smart for them to explore. 

It is a good site it is very interactive and lots for them to explore, we can even get some reading practice in whilst we are at it and look at some lesson plans.

We already have rules when they are on the computer and they are very good at asking if something is allowed or not before they do anything so I am hopeful this will just reinforce what they already know.

Australia Day -

Australia day is Celebrated today so we decided to do a lesson on what it is all about!....

We started by looking on the map and discovering where Australia is and we talked about ways in which people could get there, either on foot or plane or boat.

We looked at a video from the perspective of Aborigines descendants 

Then we looked at the story from a British Perspective telling the story.

We then looked at a fabulous documentary about the Aboriginal culture.

We then coloured some aboriginal art sheets and they designed their own aboriginal art.

Colonial thought patterns in society are alive and well...My thoughts..

An article popped up in the news again about Colonialism entitled:- So Brits are proud of colonialism? Clearly they need some lessons about the reality of the British Empire

The comments reveal a lot about the whitewashing of African History and the Colonial era, and demonstrates just how bad the education of their masses is when it comes to these topics.

Here I will highlight some of the misconceptions and glaring attempts of whitewashing the issue as if it has no importance in history:-

Britain abolished slavery- No they did not, they abolished the slave trade not the owning of slaves, it was not until the Human Rights Act 1998 when it was incorporated into British Law Article 4 of the European Convention on Human Rights which prohibits the holding of persons as slaves.

All the acts can be found here

The Act of the Abolition of the Slave Trade 1807 had the aims of abolishing the slave trade in the British colonies and making it illegal to carry enslaved people in British ships, although many ships tried to evade the ban.

With the addition of further acts to improve the so called working/life conditions and human rights of the commodities, (commonly known as slaves), never was slavery made illegal anywhere in any act until the 1998 Human rights act.

In addition, those that where campaigning for the end of slavery, as good as their intentions where, very few of them believed in racial equality, more can be read about that here

This is one that irks me the most - Before the arrival of colonialism, Political, economic and social structures existed in African society well before the 19th century. Frederic Caillaurd, during his quest to discover the source of the Nile, marvelled at the structures of Egyptian society. Massive empires existed in Zimbabwe and Zululand (to name two) and were crushed by the land grab of the colonial empires in the 19th century.'

Before the Europeans arrived in Africa, Africa had vibrant economic, social and political structures. These were severely disrupted by Europeans to create wealth for themselves.

Pre-colonial Africa faced greater economic and ecological challenges than many parts of the rest of the world. The three main ecological zones, forest, savannah and highlands all experienced periods of economic growth and increased trade. New divisions of labour were introduced. People planted new crops and adopted or created new technologies. Complex arrangements of rules and customs came into being to regulate social cooperation and enhance production. Pre-colonial Africa was developing.  More here  Pre-Colonial Politics and Government, yes they had those too, you can read about that here and they where far from savage as your Colonial Masters would have you believe. 

Pre- Colonial Medicine - It was an enslaved African that took the small pox inoculation to America, without Africans many of the pharmaceuticals seen today would not exist. see here in fact many traditional medicines are used in Europe still today see here

More about Pre-Colonial Uganda medical excellence can be found here, you can find out lots more by doing some research. I don't even need to mention Egypt as we all should know about the evidence of the lost Technologies.

Err nope, they where worse....there where no good deeds done apart from stripping the lands of resources, depleting these countries of population needed to sustain them by murder and kidnap, destroyed cultures and identities, destroying the rich history, putting billions through many years of degradation and oppression still felt today, it benefited the elite capitalist ideology and those that obeyed and was by far worse and claimed far greater numbers than anything Hitler did.

Here is a well written piece describing the conditions that 60 million people died due to British Colonial Rule, and this is just India and does not include the African genocides.

Here is another article that highlights other victims of the genocide perpetrated by British Colonial Rule. there are more, but you will have to research those for yourself.

As already shown above, if you have taken any notice, Pre Colonial Africa already had western equivalent employment, economic development to suit their civilisations needs, not western needs, they where doing ok. They where working for the good of the civilisation not working to fill their pockets with as much money as possible to the benefit of the few. Colonial Powers bull dozed in and changed all that putting in railroads and changing infrastructure for their own needs. not the needs of Africa. Africa clearly did not need them Pre-colonial.,

Slaves from West Africa taught masters how to grow the crop, which required a good deal of expertise. So as English planters developed the region’s economy around this staple crop, slaves provided not only the labour, but the knowledge behind the crop’s success.

Well if you call racism, prejudice, oppression, poverty, inequality, capitalism etc etc etc in numerous countries, good, then well, one could agree. 

I think we can safely say there is a marked difference between the Pre-Colonial Slave Trade you can here explaining the systems of the Pre-colonial slave traders, understanding the differences is key to understanding Colonial slavery, here is another article for you to peruse... The fundamental difference you should be able to see by your research, in addition to economic incentives, racial tensions further solidified the state of slavery, they where not human they where just property more here find out more from this informative paper.

If you have read all the above and taken notice then you will see how seriously white supremacist this statement by this person is.... If you cannot then you need to continue doing research...

It was British Colonial policy that put Africa in an impoverished state, you can see an article about the policies here There is an articulate argument here that the Indian experience of colonialism and the damaging effects of the Colonial reign example ...
 

My conclusion to this statement is that the British Empire terrorised over a fifth of the worlds population, destroying their rich cultures cultivating lands to suit their aims and greed, oppressing billions of people causing prejudice and hate and degrading generations upon generations of people, destroying civilisations and building infrastructure to wipe away whole cultures and traditions and to serve and support their greedy selfish pillaging of lands they had no rights to. 

The only thing I agree with in this statement is, no damn right  there has not been anything like it in history, and thank god for that, it is a scar on history that is cleverly used even today to keep people oppressed and white supremacy well and truly alive, the truth of the atrocities need to be told.

What is needed is an acknowledgement of the damage on a huge scale that was done and is still being done today, people want a mind shift, a break away from this deep rooted colonial mindset that still blights people to this very day, the truth needs to be told to our children of how barbaric it really was, and not the squeeky clean 'Britain did it for Africa's sake' tripe that we all hear.

Look at the Germans they take ownership of their past, they teach their kids the truth about Hitler,  in a standard German history text book it challenges Germany's young to come to terms with the burden of a collective past far more cruel and destructive than teenagers anywhere else in the world are obliged to contemplate. They are taught why the past must not repeat itself.

When the day comes that I do not see daily excuses and diversions from the truth about Colonialism, when I see the truth spoken about and taught in schools,  when I do not see the likes of the kind of words spoken in those comments that prompted me to write this post, when I never see 'get over it ' in the same conversation of Colonialism and Slavery, I will know an inner peace I could only dream of, and those famous words of Martin Luther King 'I have a dream' will really mean something.

I see generations upon generations internalising the pain of the legacy of colonialism and slavery, that pain is real and that pain is there, people need to read scholars and their telling of the Colonial story with facts about the political, social effects, one of which you can see here

Just the fact that the issue of reparations has been on the table shows me there is a shift, the voices that have called for the Cecil Rhodes Statues to be removed, find out more about that here, brilliant projects like Exploring Africa getting the real Africa out there, breaking down the narrative that Africa is backwards and has no history, there is a shift and Africa is rising.

Historians are calling for the 'bad' side of Colonialism to be taught in schools see here,  I believe the things they teach in primary schools are the first steps to cement this colonial attitude about Africa, along side the continual bombardment by popular press of  poverty, mud huts and African animals, removing people further from the truth of what Africa is.

Colonial Britain used tactics such as idyllic and patronising videos which you can see some of here to brainwash their masses, they hid the truth of what colonialism was, they did not let the public see the atrocities, they just presented the 'we are helping these poor pathetic people' images as they do today with the charity voluntourism which is argued to do more harm than good, once such article is here


The damage of Colonialism is there in every day life and can be seen by all, yet still ignored and denied by so many... Education, education, education is the start that is needed to change this Colonial mindset that is damaging so many.

Education was used to instil Colonial ideology, it is time education was used to undo the damage.

Lets see one day that these seriously offensive and ignorant comments created by Colonial ideology such as this below are a thing of the past.

And videos about the 'real Africa' will not have to be made to try to educate people that they are in fact not all 'still backwards'... like this one here. which demonstrates Colonialism worked to Westernise Africa to become Capitalist.

Compulsory Registration for Home Educators Back In the news, again...

Compulsory registration is back on the agenda again, well when I say 'again' it is never really off the agenda from what I have observed, just last year Welsh home educators deflected an attempt at compulsory registration of home educators you can see the report here

Today again there is another attempt to bring the registration issue to the fore again in Wales with another report from the BBC  regarding a case back in 2011 you can see that here

In UK NSPCC raised a report and had to apologise for smearing home educators, see here, they did not learn a lesson as they are at it again with their latest report, a petition has been raised for them to withdraw their latest report which you can view the petition and learn more about it here

My own view on this assault on home educators and their persistence on implementing a compulsory register is a total failure in looking at child protection, child protection is not a home education issue, the two are more than separate issues.

For me them pursuing the compulsory register aspect of their ignorance of home education is nothing more than a deflection tactic to divert peoples attention to the real failures in child protection services.

It is a parents right enshrined in law The Education Act 1944 originally established that children's education should be based on their age, aptitude and ability. ..

If the LA do not believe an education is taking place then they have to right to make formal enquiries and state what their concerns are and then ask the parent to address those concerns, if the concerns are not dealt with adequately and there is reason to believe that an education is still not being received then they have legal powers to follow that through by pursuing a school attendance order 

Child protection does not come into that equation, if there are any concern about a childs welfare this is dealt with by social services, social services have no remit over home education.

The issue with registration is stated over and over, that they do not have any clue how many children there are that are home educated, but how can that be?.. That is a failure in their systems not in the home education law.

When my children first started home education we where contacted by a 'school nurse' who offered her services to home educators, so in that case as we had never registered or contacted LA,  where did they get their information we home educate?, obviously from Health Visitor services, so in that case that may give them a good indication of home educated children pre-school and then once a child is taken out and removed from school at school age, parents have to write to schools to give notice of their intention to home educate, which the school then notifies the LA, so why are these not being used as some kind of monitoring tool?, they should have an idea of numbers.

The case of poor Dylan Seabright shows that it was a services failure, welfare concerns where raised to SS but education officials where turned away at the door, why in that case where SS not brought in in the first place, if welfare concerns where raised it is a SS issue not education officials who should intervene, SS should have gone in, this shows that it was a failure of the services provided and no amount of registering would have changed the outcome.

Even the Open University have 'in' on the subject, their view is that there should be tighter regulation, for a supposedly intelligent part of society even Open University have it wrong, their statement reads

'If preserving parent’s freedoms in the longer term means a name on a register, or an annual visit, the short-term pain might be worth it'..

You can read this here or take a look at some of the comment's on the original conversation here

Clearly even the Open University do not believe in protecting 'rights of the parents', just by advocating a register in the first place and clearly have no idea about home education and even they do not understand the law. How loud do people have to shout that Child Protection is not a Home Education Issue, the two are very very separate issues...

Encouraging the twins to write

The twins have always been reluctant writers and I have tried different methods to encourage them to pick up a pen, all have had varying degrees of success.

When we play games the twins are always keen to be the score keeper, they have writing books on tap that they do often walk round with doodling pictures in and olivia is a keen on practising her numbers and letters and often writes names and random words on bits of paper and my walls.. yes .. my walls. gggrrrrr...

So when I say they are reluctant writers they are, but not reluctant to pick up a pen and 'doodle' so my efforts have not been wasted, they have good pen control and can put ideas on paper.

They do understand the concept that you can put your minds thoughts onto papar and you can see inside the mind.

Oliver has a fantastic imagination, the has an imaginary persona where he is a warewolf, this has been going on for quite some time and at the tea table we recently had a conversation where I was actually worried that he may be loosing the plot and had blurred lines of reality and fiction.

This was a misconception for me, what he was doign was telling me a story about his alter ego The Warewolf Boy, this warewolf boy had two mothers, the biological mother who was also a warewolf, was dead because he had killed her because she had tried to poison him after he had gone out hunting on his own,  she was afraid that he might hurt or even kill someone, the step mother who he liked, she was nice, but not a warewolf herself.

Although he liked her he trusted no-one and was afraid every time he had food and always had to smell his food  first to check it was not poisoned, which was something he did regularly anyway because he was a werewolf and smelling things was just something he did naturally.

This story Oliver had created has been manifesting for some time, with some days acting out this Warewolf boy driving Olivia, Karis and I quite nuts throughout the day, on this occasion I was playing with him asking him questions about this Warewolf boy and trying to trip him up, a bit mean of me really but it actually did serve a purpose of me seeing how deep this Warewolf boy goes with Oliver and what came out could convince anyone, it certainly convinced me, how he told it had us all sucked into this imaginary Werewolf Boy World.

He answered every question with an intelligent answer that was plausible for the world he had created.

So now we have another project on our hands of expanding this Warewolf Boy and bringing him to life on paper, Oliver was very excited when I said lets write about Warewolf Boy and put his adventures down on paper. I asked him if he had any ideas about what Warewolf boy looked like and he said 'I have millions of pictures in my head'.

 We talked about different kinds of books, picture books, biographies, historical fiction, etc, how many pages a book has, was one of his questions, how are the hard backs on books made? so we talked about publishers and illustrators, Olivia has volunteered herself to be an illustrator, she quite likes the idea of drawing flowers for the book.

So now they are eagerly working on a plan for his Werewolf Boy book, searching for tips and tricks of writing a story.

Honest books about Slavery for children.

(In the spirit of full disclosure, this post contains affiliate links, which means that I may get a commissions if you decide to purchase anything. I only recommend products that I have used and love myself, so I know you’ll be in good hands.)

 

There has been many criticism of children's book depicting slavery with an overly rose tinted glasses view of a slaves life with smiling mothers and their children baking blackberry pie serving it to the family master.

Too many people, particularly white people do not grasp, or prefer not to grasp, the depth and breadth of slavery's horrors. 

It is not uncommon to see clueless social media posts or read obtuse comments by politicians arguing that slavery ultimately benefited Africans.

Many children, and, sadly, their parents, still need to learn that slavery wasn't idyllic, a boon to their family lives, or an improvement over remaining in their homelands. In fact, slavery was often brutal and dehumanizing even when owners exhibited basic kindness. Slaves were often sold away from their families and loved ones with no notice, destroying what little domestic life they were allowed to have, and the severing of blacks from their ancestors and heritage in Africa is an irreversible trauma.

Here are 14 (mostly) honest books for young readers that will help them confront the unpalatable truth of slavery, and celebrate the ingenuity and strength of those who resisted, escaped and survived.

Sadly due to the lack of British Writers of Children's Historically accurate Fiction Novels there are only a couple of British books here, most of the books are American so a certain amount of knowledge about America may come in handy for some children.

• Sarah Mussi in The Door Of No Return, Zac Baxter's grandfather has always told him that he's the descendant of African kings, whose treasure was stolen when his ancestors were sold into slavery. 

• Carole Boston Weatherford - Moses - A reverent retelling of Harriet Tubman's brave work on the Underground Rail road, written by Carole Boston Weatherford with illustrations by Kadir Nelson.

 

• Laban Carrick Hill - Dave the potter - David Drake was a real artist who lived in slavery, he died not long after Emancipation. But he left behind many beautiful ceramic works, some of which he inscribed with original poetic couplets. This meticulous book by Laban Carrick Hill, illustrated by Bryan Collier, celebrates his genius while reminding us that it was no protection from the inhumanity of being "owned."

 

• Deborah Hopkinson - Sweet Clara and the freedom quiltThis picture book, written by Deborah Hopkinson and illustrated by James Ransome, tries to present the painful truth about slavery without images that will overly upset young children. It tells the story of a young girl who resourcefully hides a map to freedom in a quilt design. 

•   Patricia and Fredrick McKissack have turned out a number of thoughtful books to introduce kids to the horrors of slavery. In this seemingly idyllic holiday book, they joltingly juxtapose the idle luxury in the big house of the master with the deprivation, labour and hope for freedom in the slave quarters.

• Sojourner Truth - Step, Stomp, Stride - Sojourner Truth, like Harriet Tubman, is a great historical figure for kids to start reading about early on. This vibrant picture book by Andrea Davis Pinkney and Brian Pinkney celebrates the strength and resourcefulness of Truth in playful, engaging language.
  
• Ellen Levine - Henry's Freedom Box - A retelling of the true story of Henry "Box" Brown, written by Ellen Levine and illustrated by Kadir Nelson, this gorgeous picture book shows Brown's heartbreaking separation from his wife and children, who are sold to new owners, and his determination to escape by any means. His ultimate, successful plan: mailing himself to freedom in a box.

• Sharon M. Draper - Copper Sun - Sharon M. Draper's novel, an unflinching examination of the slave trade, is appropriate for somewhat older readers. It follows an Ashanti teenager, Amari, who is kidnapped by slavers, brought to the Carolinas, and sold to a plantation family, along the way seeing and experiencing shocking brutalities -- while still nursing a hope for freedom. 

 

  

• Gary Paulsenn - Nightjohn - Gary Paulsen doesn't pull his punches -- his wilderness survival YA book, Hatchet, makes camping sound nightmarish -- and this young adult novel brings atrocities from the author's research off the page, from vicious dog attacks on runaways to mutilation as a punishment for teaching other slaves to read. The violence may seem gratuitous, but there's no happy whitewashing of slavery here.
   
  

 

The Dear America diaries might seem a little kitschy, but they offer an entire narrative from the viewpoint of a young girl at certain points in history. Still better, acclaimed black authors Patricia McKissack and Joyce Hansen each offer fully realized, honest portraits of girls living in slavery, and in its aftermath, in the series.

 

 

• A saga stretching for generations, Walter Dean Myers' The Glory Field follows one family from its first ancestor kidnapped and sold into slavery up until five generations later, now free from slavery but still suffering deeply from its wounds. 

•  Julius Lester - Day of Tears - In a novel told in dialogue, Julius Lester dramatizes the day of the single largest slave auction in American history, when one Georgia plantation owner sold hundreds of slaves in order to pay off debts. The human suffering caused by such auctions leaps off the page in this heart-wrenching book.

• The protagonist of Christopher Paul Curtis' Elijah of Buxton is the first person born free in a small community of escaped slaves north of the Canadian border. But unexpected events draw him south, and slowly he begins to discover the truth of the enslaved life his family escaped, and how desperately he values his own freedom.

• Patricia McKissack - Never Forgotten With striking illustration by Leo and Diane Dillon, Patricia McKissack poetically tells the story of a West African father whose son is stolen by slavers and taken to America. McKissack gives words to a mourning for lost ancestors, and lost loved ones, created by the cruelties of the slave trade and all-too-often neglected in historical accounts.