Daisy and the Doll (Vermont Folklife Center Children's Book Series) [Hardcover]

Michael Medearis (Author), Angela Shelf Medearis (Author), Larry Johnson (Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 4 and up | Grade Level: P and up | Series: Vermont Folklife Center Children's Book Series

Boldness and a gift for improvising verse enable eight-year-old Daisy Turner, an African American living in Grafton, Vermont, in the late 19th century, to triumph over an incident of discrimination in her school. Told in Daisy's voice, the book's themes of identity and self-affirmation offer a powerful lesson to today's youngsters who face similar situations of prejudice and stereotyping in the 21st century classroom.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

One of the inaugural releases in the Family Heritage series, this story is based on a true incident. The husband-and-wife authors (the African-American Arts series) adopt the crisp and amiable voice of eight-year-old Daisy Turner, a former slave's daughter who was born in Vermont in 1883. Daisy's teacher announces that, for a school competition, each girl will hold a doll from a different country and recite a poem about that nationality. When she hands Daisy a rag doll "with a coal black face," the other girls giggle; and anger "bubbled inside me like hot tar." Daisy's father, Papu, advises her to memorize the poem her teacher has written, even though it obviously offends her. Disconcertingly, readers never learn any of the poem's contents. Daisy instead comments, "I had never really noticed the color of my skin. It was as if Miss Clark's poem had opened my eyes for the first time." On stage during the program, Daisy finds that her teacher's words "caught in my throat like a bone," and the child delivers an extemporaneous but prize-winning poem ("My Papu says that half the world/ Is nearly black as night./ And it does no harm to take a chance/ And stay right in the fight"). Johnson's (Knoxville, Tennessee) spare representational paintings capture the narrative's emotion-charged tenor. A concluding page offers historical background as well as tips for rhyming games and for writing poems. Ages 6-10. (Sept.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

Kindergarten-Grade 2-Based on the real Daisy Turner's family stories archived in the Vermont Folklife Center, this book, set in the 1890s, is about an eight-year-old African-American girl's awakening racial awareness. For the end-of-school program featuring poems about different nations of the world, Daisy's teacher announces that a prize will be given for the best speaker. Each girl receives a doll to carry and a poem to memorize for the occasion. Daisy gets "a rag doll with a coal black face" and her poem makes her angry. When she confides in her father, he reassures her that to him she is the prettiest girl in their town. When she stands on the stage with her white classmates in her shabby school dress, for the first time Daisy feels "-ashamed of the way I looked." Instead of the poem her teacher had written, the child makes up a new one on the spot-a proud, defiant poem that startles the audience but earns her first prize for "the most original and honest presentation." Though the storytelling suffers from a didactic tone, the book is a historically accurate period piece. The composition and execution of the impressionistic paintings seem disappointingly uneven at times. Still, pair this unique tale with Alan Govenar's Osceola: Memories of a Sharecropper's Daughter (Jump at the Sun, 2000) for an authentic, child-centered look at the black experience around the turn of the 20th century.
Kate McClelland, Perrot Memorial Library, Old Greenwich, CT
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 4 and up
  
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: August House; 1st edition (July 17, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0916718158
• ISBN-13: 978-0916718152
• Product Dimensions: 10.3 x 8.3 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.1 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,722,077 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Poetry of the Soul, October 26, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Daisy and the Doll (Vermont Folklife Center Children's Book Series) (Hardcover)

This is a fantastic book and should be a part of every fourth and fifth grade classroom. The story gives a soul stirring look at life for a minority in the late 1800's in such a way that children can relate to the emotions experienced and actions taken. The story shows how even a child can respond to challenge prejudice and unfair bias in a mature way. It would also be a great introduction to a unit on poetry.

5.0 out of 5 stars Rutgers University Project on Economics and Children, October 3, 2008

By 

Yana V. Rodgers "econkids.rutgers.edu" (New Brunswick, NJ) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Daisy and the Doll (A Vermont Folklife Center Book) (Paperback)

Jessie Daisy Turner, an eight year old child in the late 1800s, lives with her parents and twelve siblings on a beautiful Vermont farm surrounded by daisies. Her father had settled in Vermont after he escaped from slavery in Virginia and joined the Union Army. Daisy is one of the only children of color in her classroom, and she is both embarrassed and angry when the teacher, in assigning poems to read and props to hold for a school program, singles Daisy out by giving her a doll with a black face. That moment was the first time someone had treated Daisy differently due to her skin color, and Daisy had trouble making sense of this experience.

Ultimately, Daisy is able to use her courage and her talent as a poet to show her teacher, classmates, and the community the importance of speaking out about race and racial equality. Based on a true story, Daisy and the Doll provides readers with an important reminder of the hurtful feelings associated with discrimination, even if the person responsible for the treatment may not have intended to be cruel. Although the book focuses on race, the astute reader will also notice an interesting discussion point related to gender, given that the teacher assigned dolls only to the girls.

5.0 out of 5 stars GREAT BOOK!, April 28, 2008

By 

Linda C. Hayes - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Daisy and the Doll (A Vermont Folklife Center Book) (Paperback)

THIS IS A FANTASTIC BOOK. I COLLECT ANYTHING THAT HAS TO DO WITH BLACK DOLLS, WHICH WAS HOW I STUMBLED UPON THIS JEWEL. BUY IT. READ IT. APPRECIATE IT. ************