Book talk

The book that I chose was Rosa’s Bus the Ride to Civil Rights, by Jo S. Kittinger and illustrated by Steven Walker. This book is about Bus #2857, the bus that Rosa Parks rode on. It tells about the history of Bus #2857, how it came off the assembly line in Michigan, headed to Indiana before going to Montgomery, Alabama. White people rode in the front, Blacks in the back. Everyone paid a dime to ride the bus. If the front of the bus was full blacks were forced to stand up and give their seats up to White folks, until December 1, 1955. This is the day Rosa Parks did not get up. She was arrested and word spread like wild fire. The boycott started and lasted for 382 days. Blacks did not ride the bus, the bus companies were failing, the Supreme Court had to do something and they did. The Supreme Court ruled that blacks could sit wherever on the bus and did not have to give up. Bus #2857 was full again until it was put out of service. A man bought Bus #2857 and it sat in a field for more than thirty years and until people cared enough about Bus #2857 again. Fifty-five years after it rolled off the assembly line in Michigan, Bus #2857 returned to Michigan to the Henry Ford Museum. “Think about Bus #2857 - imagine where it has been and where we have yet to go.”

 

This book can be used in 3^rd grade classrooms and up. It can be used in many scenarios such as: a history class, February because it is black history month, teaching equality and unity if you see your class is bullying someone or leaving a certain students out.  For the history class, young children will be able to learn about the segregation that used to exist in this country without learning about all the details and how terrible it used be for blacks. Also, this story consists of repetition, “That’s just the way things were,” is repeated throughout the story. There are many different ways this book can used in the classroom and I think that the students will enjoy it.