HIstorical Fiction

Watch The Stars Come Out

By: Riki Levinson

Historical Fiction

Illustrated by: Dianne Goode

            This is the story of a little red haired girl who spends special times with

her Grandmother in the evenings. Grandma would tell her stories at bedtime about the family’s immigration many years earlier in the 1800’s. Her great grandmother had red hair just like her. She traveled for twenty-three days by sea on a big boat that included her, her brother and an old lady who died during the passage to America. The only food they had was a barrel of dried fruit. The two children approached Ellis Island with hopes that they would soon be reunited with their parents and sister. After a medical inspection they were released to their family and soon saw their new home located on the upper floor of a large building. After a warm bath, cookies and tea she welcomed the soft bed and counted the stars before she fell asleep. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this story; it is also a great way to express how immigration occurred (including hard ships) in the classroom.

The Year of the Perfect Christmas Tree

By: Gloria Houston

Historical Fiction

Illustrated by Barbara Cooney

            This is a great story about family, tradition and community. The book clearly depicts life in the Appalachian Mountains as simple. One can hear the dialect of the people through some of the phrases the author uses, for example, “Come on my pretty young’un.” “Tweetsie” was the old train that ran through town and their horse was named “Piedy”. There was a church tradition in the town that every year a family would provide the tree for Christmas. Ruthie and her father had already chose that tree in the early spring and marked it with a ribbon. Ruthie had a great relationship with her Papa and missed him terribly while he was away at war. The child and her mother made due as best they could in his absence but money was low. Mama quietly sewed into the night to make an angel costume for Ruthie and a matching doll she would receive on Christmas Day. Even though Papa had still not returned by Christmas Eve, Ruthie and her mama went out into the night to get the tree for the church. On Christmas Day, they both received the greatest gift Papa returned to them. Overall, this story is deep and heartfelt a great read for a respectful audience.

Millie and the Macy’s Parade

By: Shanna Corey

Historical Fiction

Illustrated by: Brett Helquist

            This story truly depicted the era of immigration. The illustrations were bright and vivid, they really made the reader feel as if they were part of the century.

Milly, a young polish girl lived with her parents in New York. She spent many hours in the Macy’s store because her father worked there. He, along with with many other immigrants were stationed in the delivery dock area on the lower level. As the holidays approached many of the workers were homesick for the old country.  Milly visited Mr. Macy in his office and inspired him to have a huge parade. This was the beginning of the famous Macy’s Parade. Overall it was a simple story and historically appropriate I enjoyed it.

My Freedom Trip

By:Frances Park and Ginger Park

Historical Fiction

Illustrated by: Debra Reid Jenkins

             This story has a fearful element as it describes a young girls flight from a communist Korea. Soo was just a child when she was forced to flee to South Korea in order to keep her freedom. Each family member had to leave the north, one at a time. Soo’s father left first, then she had to leave without her mother and was escorted by a guide named Mr. Han. The escape at night was filled with fear as the soldiers were patrolling in the woods looking for any one trying to escape.  She was so scared but, kept thinking of the last words to her mother told her, “be brave, Soo!”  The young lady did find freedom and her father, but she was never reunited with her mother.  The illustrations were very professional but too dark for me. I would not read this book to a child.

A New Coat for Anna

By Harriet Ziefert

Historical Fiction

Illustrated by: Anita Lobel

            This is a wonderful story of a young girl and her mother who make the best of poverty.  The illustrations show you a war torn city from time past. It’s a about a young girl Anna who needed a new coat. It took a year of planning and bartering to get the wool from the sheep, to the spinning, the red coloring and finally the tailor who made the coat. It was a journey of determination that ended with a group of people becoming friends.  The illustrations were delightful. I would read this to any child.

The Memory Coat

By: Elvira Woodruff

Historical Fiction

Illustrated by: Michael Dooling

            This book is showing you the power of a Jewish family struggling to survive while living in Russia. The Cossacks were killing any Jews they could find in their small town of Shtetl. The family was large and had enough love for everyone including Grisha, Rachel’s cousin who had lost his parents to illness. Rachel loved Grisha and often comforted him when he was sad. They had a special bond that kept them busy for hours. She would dream up wonderful stories and Grisha would draw them. The family knew they had to flee to America but feared they would be separated at Ellis Island due to the strict entry policies. A small tattered coat might hinder Grisha’s entry to a free America but his coat was the last memory he had of his dear mother. Fortunately, a quick thinking Rachel came to the rescue and Grisha was granted entrance. The illustrations were very interesting, there was a myriad of coloring that really helped you get a sense of the emotions. The dark charcoal drawings showed the dread and the sepia imagery on another page really lit the faces up on the family as they sat over a kitchen table making their plans of escape from the dreaded country. Overall a very moving book appropriate for older elementary students.

The Butterfly

By: Patricia Polacco

Historical Fiction

Illustrated by: Patricia Polcacco

            This beautifully depicted story has a rebirth ending from a deathly time of the Nazi regime. This is a story about a girl named Monique who was living with her mother Marcel Solliliage. One night, Monique saw a “ghostly girl” sitting at the edge of her bed. Later on she found out that the ghost was a girl named Sevrine whom was hiding in her basement from the Nazi’s. The girls played in her room late at night until Monique and Sevrine released a butterfly from the window and a neighbor noticed. That night Sevrine and her family left Marcel Sollilage’s house in hope for safety. Her parents dressed as a priest and nun, this was the last time Sevrine ever saw her parents. Sevrine escaped to freedom, but never reconnected with her mother of father. To this day, Monique and Sevrine are still friends and have an undying bond from the war in France. Overall, this book shows the reality of the war in a delicate way for children to understand, however I would be selective to whom I would read this story to.

When Jessie Came Across The Sea

By: Amy Hest

Historical Fiction

Illustrated by: P.J. Lynch

            A poignant warm story of a young womans courage and strength as she travels to a strange new world called America.  Jessie’s grandmother taught her the gift of making lace that came to serve her well in America. She ends up marrying a boy named Lou that she met on the immigration boat. The illustrations capture the heartbeat of the story and fill the viewer with images of what this life must have been like.  It’s a story of faith, family and love for all ages a book that I would highly recommend.

*Just In Time, Abraham Lincoln

By: Patricia Polacco

 Historical Fiction

Illustrated by: Patricia Polacco

         This story is about two boys who are traveling with their grandma. Grandma is disappointed with how technologically absorbed the boys are so she takes them to Gettysburg, here the boys visit an old uniform shop and mysteriously get taken back to the civil war. They meet Abraham Lincoln; get a snap shot with him and race back to the store before the time runs out. Luckily the boys travel back into present time and are able to retell the story to their grandma. She does not believe them at first but when they boys look at the picture with Abraham Lincoln they see themselves in the background. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this story; it is a great way to get children to envision themselves in the lifestyle of the civil war. I highly recommend this to a classroom.

*Chicken Sunday

By: Patricia Polacco

 Historical Fiction

Illustrated by: Patricia Polacco

   Chicken Sunday is about three kids who want to buy a beautiful hat for their ‘Granny” by Easter Sunday. The kids decide to visit Mr. Kodinski’s hat shop and ask him if they had any jobs they could do in order to buy the hat from him. Unfortunately for them he was able to maintain his shop on his own and did not need the children’s help; however, Patricia’s mother encouraged them to create "Pysanky" eggs. The eggs were such a hit in the community that they ended up selling enough eggs to buy Grannie the hat she wanted for so long. I really liked how this story was written; the children were not given a hand out and worked hard for the money they used to buy Grannie her hat. I would put this book on my classroom library shelves.

*The Keeping Quilt

By: Patricia Polacco

Historical Fiction

Illustrated by: Patricia Polacco

         Written about Polocco’s own personal Russian Jewish heritage. The quilt was made from many different things, baby blankets, wedding ceremonies and Jewish religious traditions. Her family used the quilt as a way to remember and cherish their own culture and heritage traditions.

*Amelia’s Fantastic Flight

By: Rose Bursik

Historical Fiction

Illustrated by: Rose Bursik

         This story is about a young and imaginative girl names Amelia, who designs a one-seated red plane (that is modeled after toy plane) to travel around the world in. Here he visits places like Kenya and Brazil all in one day and makes it back in time for dinner. Overall, this book is very mesmerizing with each page having a map highlighting her journey. I would place this book on my classroom library-reading shelf.

*The Scrambled States Of America

By: Laurie Keller

Historical Fiction

Illustrated by: Laurie Keller

         This story is about Kansas getting bored with his location in the mid-west. He decides to throw a party where all of the states can come and meet each other. The party is a success and the states decide that they would like to try out other states locations. The United States ends up getting very jumbled and unorganized. All of the states miss their old locations and move back to where they originally belonged and are now satisfied with their original locations. I really enjoyed reading this story and I can see how this book can help students understand the different names and shapes of the states.