This amazing story about Ida B. Wells caught my attention. I knew Ida B. Wells was a journalist, however, I did not know she was a teacher in a one-room schoolhouse. This story has so much content and details that I did not know about. I learned and understand who Ida was. This story is associated with Emancipation Proclamation, the story can teach children of all ages about Ida B. Wells. In the story, Wells became a journalist because she has a mind of her own. Wells's favorite thing to do is read books, newspapers, etc. Wells wants to gain knowledge about what's going on in the world. The lynching of her friend Tom causes her to change her life up by becoming a crusader against lynching. As a journalist, Wells would write about how cruel lynching was to black people. She gains everybody's attention through her newspaper about lynching. Ida would travel around the country to speak about how lynching is torture and horrible among black people. In 1931, Ida passed away, however, lynching in the United States came to an end. I was fascinated by Ida's bravery, she was fed up with how black people were treated. Ida wants black people to have justice and freedom. Ida was very strong and powerful. I love how she looked after her younger siblings because she wants to help her mother out. I appreciate what Ida did for black people. This story is inspiring and amazing because Ida was confident as well. The young children and young adults would enjoy this story because of the beautiful illustrations and Ida's life as a journalist, teacher, and more. I want them to walk away knowing who Ida B. Wells is. ( )

I enjoyed reading this book. It focuses on the life of Ida b wells but mostly on her accomplishments. My favorite part of how this book it written is that it compares in a way the things that were happening in society and how Ida overcame it. I think this book is good for younger audiences because of the simple language and it shares the reality of slavery and Jim Crow without being too graphic. ( )

This picture book introduced me to Ida B Wells, who I hadn’t heard of before. She was a teacher (yay!) in a post civil war era who taught in a one room schoolhouse. Soon she turns to journalism as a way to communicate the difficulties of teaching with limited supplies. One line in the book reads “passing the exam was easier than teaching the students.” Her move into journalism and the lynching of her friend Tom, cause Ida to change course in her life and she ends up becoming a crusader against lynching. She uses journalism and newspaper to bring the cruelty of lynching to the attention of the nation. She travelled around the country to speak against the horrors of lynching. By the time of her death in 1918, lynching in the United States had mostly ceased. I learned a lot from this story and can’t believe I had never heard of her before today. There’s even a part in the story where she is escorted off of a train because she sits in a White only section, and with that being so similar to Rosa Parks, I can’t believe none of my teachers never made that connection when I was in Elementary school. It’s a sorry I definitely plan on reading as a teacher. ( )

My thoughts: A well-done picture book biography for young children that is especially good for teaching the period of history associated with the emancipation proclamation. It will encourage African-Americans to discover their heritage and it will enlighten all children in America's history and those who shaped it.

The author generously provides a narrative that is somewhat extensive for a picture book and yet the illustrations are abundant so that young readers and reluctant older readers can learn of Ida B. Wells. The topic is a bit heavy for typical picture book readers and perhaps might be best read to or by older middle elementary age students because the subject of lynching is articulated as well as social injustices.

Illustrated using a style somewhat cubist, the colors and actions depicted in the art work tell the story well and fit well with the text.

As a freed slaved and crusading journalist she was, as a woman and as an African-American woman, a real pioneer in the field of social injustices and employment of a woman as a teacher and also as a journalist.

This is a good book for elementary libraries and would be quite informative for studies on the Emancipation Proclamation.

DISCLOSURE: I received a complimentary copy from Peachtree Publishing to facilitate a review. Opinions are my own and freely given. ( )

I picked this book before Odetta, but read Odetta first, so it wasn't until I started reading this that I discovered they were done by the same illustrator. I really love Stephen Alcorn's style. I could honestly do with a little less dramatic symbolism (like when the text quotes Ida Wells saying she wished she could "gather my race in my arms and fly away with them," so the illustration shows her with angel wings flying through the heavens), but the style really is gorgeous. ( )