January's Sparrow by Patricia Polacco is in the genre of historical fiction and recommended for children aged 6-9 years old. Polacco is one of my favorite author's and her books are great to use in the classroom. January's Sparrow is about the Crosswhite family trying to leave their plantation in Kentucky. January was tortured and killed by a slave master. The little girl, Sadie is terrified and must leave a wooden sparrow that January gave her. This book is set at the Underground Railroad and tells the story of the Crosswhites journey. The find freedom in Marshal Michigan and the wooden sparrow finds them there. This book is deep and touched me in many ways. As a black woman, I pictured my own ancestors running for their freedom and how they must have felt. Opening: “Sadie, the youngest Crosswhite, shuddered when she saw the paddy rollers thunder into the slave yard on their horses, draggin’ a runaway on the end of a rope behind them. Synopsis: All the slaves had been ordered to stand at the porch rail that mornin’.” Sadie was horrified when she realized that the men were dragging and beating January, who was like a brother to her. He had carved a sparrow for her days earlier and she knew he was going to run. Adam and Sarah Crosswhite overheard that two of their four children were going to be sold. The fled the Kentucky Plantation with only the clothes on their back and in the middle of the night. They made a harrowing trip across the Ohio River into Indiana and traveled the Underground Railroad north to freedom in Marshall, Michigan. In Marshall, there was a growing number of Negro families who found support and friendship in the white community. Sadie’s father and brothers found jobs, and Sadie attended school. But, the family was always on the look-out for bounty hunters and angry masters searching for runaway slaves. One day a package arrived with Sadie’s treasured sparrow inside. Attached to it was a note that said, “I found you.” What will her family do? Readers will be surprised by the ending.Why I like this book: Patricia Polacco has taken a true story that she discovered a few miles from her Michigan home and written a compelling story for children about slavery and the underground railroad. In fact the home she lives in was site of underground activity. In writing this story, Polacco used “dialect modified from slave narratives,” which enhanced the unique voice of January. Polacco did a lot of research about the Crosswhite family and the amazing community of Marshall, MI, which adds considerably to the story’s authenticity. Polacco’s vivid and colorful artwork is done with charcoal and watercolor. She captures the fear, terror, pain and the joy in her powerful, detailed and expressive illustrations. Visit Patricia Polacco on her website. You can see a photo of her home built in the 1800s, and learn some interesting facts about famous visitors.
What do You think about January's Sparrow (2009)?
I loved the illustrations in this book. It was a beautifully written, compelling text.
—Loan24
I want to learn more about the Crosswhite family.
—Saba
