White Socks Only

Coleman, E. (1996). White socks only. Albert Whitman & Co.

Genre: Historical fiction/Picture Book

Age Level: 5-9

Book Talk

 

Audience: Third grade students

Have you ever been in trouble for something you didn’t even know you did?  How did you feel?  This story is about a young girl and her journey into town one day to see if the old saying ‘so hot you could fry an egg on the sidewalk’ was true.  As she ventures into town to see if you really can fry an egg on the sidewalk, she gets very thirsty.  She finds a fountain that has a sign posted that says ‘whites only.’  She laughs and takes off her patent leather shoes and hops up to get a drink.  The white man behind her gets very angry and racism steps in to take over the story.  Read this story to see what happens next!!

The grandmother starts of the story by giving a flashback from her childhood.  She tells her granddaughter of a time she went to town alone.  She gives vivid details so the reader can feel the emotions as if you were there.  I really think you would enjoy this book!!

 

Reflection

The story was written to preserve the diction of the times of segregation and discrimination.  The white gentleman who is very upset that the little girl used the whites’ only fountain tells her that he is going to ‘whup’ her.  Some other sayings that represent this dialect are ‘other white folk’ and ‘you a’int big enough.’  The style of writing that Coleman used makes this story even more realistic. 

The story is in the historical fiction genre because the text takes place during the times of segregation and the Civil Rights Movement.  It includes facts from the past that allow students to have a first-hand look into the trials and tribulations of this era.  This story gives the reader a look into what is what like being an African American during a time when racism was a way of life.  Students can relate to this issue as it was such a big part of our history.  I love this text and think it does a great job showing the history and past of our nation in a soft, relateable way.    

The illustrations are amazing.  Geter creates illustrations that are representative of this time period by making them realistic.  The mood on the character’s faces when the white man is upset shows how scary these moments were for African Americans.  The color Geter chose for the illustrations also helps portray the mood of each illustration. 

Ideas for teaching/comprehension strategies that can be used with this text:   I would love to use this text for talking about how authors use flashbacks (described in the paragraphs above).  I also think this text would be great as an introduction to the times the led up to the Civil Rights Movement.    The text also uses figurative language and this would be great for exploring literal and non-literal language (see picture below).  In one scene the little girl is very thirsty and says her mouth is ‘dry as dirt.’

Questions to pose:

How do you think the little girl felt in this text?  What are some examples you can use from the text?

How would you have felt if you were that little girl?

         Additional Resources:

Book read online at www.storylineonline.net

Activity guide: http://www.storylineonline.net/whitesocks/storyline_whitesocks.pdf