SCHOOL BELONGS TO ME

An African American boy learns about the Canetuck Rosenwald School in this picture book.

On the way to visit Grandma in North Carolina, Tommy’s Dad explains that when the woman was young, “she had to sit in the segregated train car, and it was hard for her to find a place to eat.” Tommy learns more about Grandma’s experiences when she takes him to a community center that used to be her school. Tommy asks about the photographs of Booker T. Washington and Julius Rosenwald on the wall. His Aunt Lee, who also attended the school, explains: “Booker T. Washington had an idea to help our communities build schools. He knew our families would give money…but they needed some help,” and he sought financial assistance from his friend Julius Rosenwald, the president of Sears. When Tommy shares a medal he received at school “for reading 100 books,” Lee says: “Your great-great grandparents would be proud.” The characters’ recollections of attending a Rosenwald School offer engaging, firsthand insights into the segregation-era building program that helped “make schools more available for African American students.” Stack’s story will encourage readers to learn more about this important historical project. Bryant’s lively, realistic, full-color, digital illustrations incorporate the present and past. For example, when Grandma’s schoolmate Mr. Frank tells Tommy how families hosted fundraising events for the school, the background features a sepia-toned scene of kids against a “Canetuck Spelling Bee 1955” banner.

An engaging, informative, multigenerational tale underscoring the legacy of the Rosenwald School program.