A Street Called Home [Library Binding]

Aminah Brenda Lynn Robinson (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 5 and up

It's the 1940s in Columbus, Ohio. Take a stroll on Mt. Vernon Avenue. Meet the Sockman, who mends old socks, and the Brownyskin Man, who sells pork rinds: "If you want brown skins, put your finger in the air! The Brownyskin Man will be right there!" Learn about the Chickenfoot Woman and Doctor Kickapoo the Medicineman and others. They're all part of life on this self-sufficient street. A street called home.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Kindergarten-Grade 3?In a sweeping depiction of one street, Mount Vernon Avenue, in the real African-American development called Poindexter Village, Robinson has captured the life of a self-sustaining community of the 1940s. Accordion pages fold out to carry readers along the street crowded with shops, people, and things to buy. Centered on each page is a flap that, when lifted, tells what the featured vendor is selling. There's Doctor Kickapoo, the medicine man; the "brownyskin" man who sells pork rinds; the chickenfoot woman, frying them on the street; the vegetable man; the iceman; the sockman (who washes and mends old socks); and the umbrella man. This painting is stitched with chunks of thread, sometimes holding down buttons or beads and sometimes patches of cloth that could be pieces from the rag man. The boldly colored streetscape spreads out to the edges of each page and is so filled with detail that it will take many sittings to take it all in. In a preface, Robinson tells readers that Poindexter Village was built to replace a shantytown in Columbus, Ohio, a stopping place for blacks moving up from the South. Poring over the scenes, children will see history in action. Once opened, the book can be set up to stretch out and be displayed. It's a sure thing that the ribbons supplied to hold the package together will seldom be tied again.?Karen Breen, New Visions for Public Schools, New York City
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Kirkus Reviews

In an accordion book with flaps, an extraordinary celebration of Mount Vernon Avenue, a street that sprang from an Ohio shantytown called the Blackberry Patch that was the destination for many African-Americans pushing north during the turn of the century. The book is an eyeful, in bold and swarming colors; the characters readers meet (their names and occupations are spelled out under the flaps) seem fabulous, but it's clear they were ordinary fixtures on Mount Vernon Avenue--``a self-sufficient street, it knew how to survive.'' There is the Sockman, who washes and mends old socks; Doctor Kickapoo, the Medicineman, with his peach leaves for rheumatism and pouches of asafetida and greegree; the Cameraman; the Chickenfoot woman. The pages can be flipped and read, but children will want to pull the whole accordion out and revel in the pulsing street scene. There is an agreeable sentimentality to this 1940s tableaux that refuses to go pretty, a sense that readers are witnessing the real thing. (Picture book. 4-9) -- Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 5 and up
  
• Library Binding: 24 pages
• Publisher: Harcourt Childrens Books (J) (October 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0152014659
• ISBN-13: 978-0152014650
• Product Dimensions: 10.1 x 8.7 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,844,450 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Our entire school loved it!, January 21, 1999

By 

[e-mail] (Columbia, Missouri) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Street Called Home (Library Binding)

We so loved this book! Our entire school participated in a literacy event that recreated the text and entitled it "A School Named Fairview." Each classroom interviewed a special staff or support person in our building, then wrote a short paragraph detailing the function performed by their special assignment. Students then painted or drew a picture of themselves to mount on a 12x18 book page. Our art teacher helped mount the figures in special settings. The results are precious, and the entire school community has been enriched. We plan to make the pages into a book as special as "A Street Called Home."

0 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Damaged book, November 27, 2009

By 

Art Man (Anchorage, AK) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: A Street Called Home (Library Binding)

The book I purchased for $15.00 was not worth the money. It is in poor condition with a broken spine and loose pages. The cover also looked old and beat up. The owner should not have sold a book in this condition. As an art teacher, I use these books for teaching and was very disappointed in the condition of the book I received.