Customer Reviews

Allen Jay and the Underground Railroad (On My Own History)

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The concept of the Underground Railroad is difficult for most children to grasp, and they first think it is similar to the subway. I used this book with elementary students in a small rural school in North Carolina where there are very few minority students; they loved it. For the first time they were able to understand the horrors of slavery and what the slaves and "conductors" alike risked for freedom in the North. The author does an excellent job of making this dark and complex chapter in our history understandable the students. The wanted to read it again and again.

Allen Jay and the Underground Railroad is the retelling of a man's recollections of his first experience helping an escaped slave. The book brings the underground railroad down to the level primary students can comprehend. This book makes for wonderful discussions regarding overcoming one's fears, going against the norm and doing what you believe to be morally correct. The story is very idealistic. The dark side of the time period is not dealt with in any depth. This makes the book excellent for young readers who are just getting their feet wet on the issue of slavery.

I was looking for some books about the underground railroad to supplement my third grader's history. This definitely fit the bill. It's definitely a bit on the easier side to read (but I have advanced readers)... so an advanced 1st grader could easily read it. But the thing that I really liked is that it really appealed to my 1st and 2nd grade boys... because the story is about a boy and the way it is written is quite exciting. After all, how many boys get to save a person and be the one actively doing so? As an added benefit, they didn't water down the boy's or his father's beliefs... the boy was a Quaker, and they kept him faithful to his religion by being honest even when they could have easily said that he lied. So I liked the historical accuracy in that as well. Highly recommend to all Christians, Catholics, AND non-Christians! Just a good, clean book!