Underground: Finding the Light to Freedom [Hardcover]

Shane W. Evans (Author, Illustrator)

Book Description

Release date: January 18, 2011 | Age Range: 4 - 8 years

One of School Library Journal’s Best Nonfiction Books of 2011

A family silently crawls along the ground. They run barefoot through unlit woods, sleep beneath bushes, take shelter in a kind stranger's home. Where are they heading? They are heading for Freedom by way of the Underground Railroad.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Starred Review. Grade 1–3—A stellar introduction to the Underground Railroad, narrated by a group of slaves. Readers experience the fugitives' escape, their long nighttime journey punctuated by meetings with friends and enemies, and their final glorious arrival in a place of freedom. Evans boils the raw emotion of the experience down to the most compressed statements, both mirroring the minimal opportunities for expression during the secret journey and also creating a narrative that invites even the youngest listeners to visit this challenging subject. For this reason, the text may be read as is to preschool audiences, while the abbreviated prose may also generate a rich discussion for older students. Evans writes simply: "The darkness..../We are quiet./The fear./We run." Appropriately, the narration is told from a group perspective, which reflects the broader experience of enslaved African Americans—a theme continued in his full-bleed illustrations of figures cloaked in the anonymity of night. Though subdued in palette until the eruption of color as the figures reach the threshold of freedom, the author's collaged nocturnal paintings shimmer with an arresting luminescence. Two constants leap out from almost every page: the stars above and the bright, fearful eyes of the fugitives. When the travelers at last lift a newborn baby to the rising sun, readers celebrate along with the protagonists.—Jayne Damron, Farmington Community Library, MI
(c) Copyright 2011.  Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

From Booklist

The darkness. / The escape. / We are quiet. / The fear . . . / We run. / We crawl.� With just two or three words on each double-page spread, the minimalist text is intense in this stirring picture book about a family�s escape from slavery. Dramatic, unframed, mixed-media illustrations, rendered in black lines and dark shades of midnight blue, show a child�s view of fleeing and hiding in the night, when the only light is in the starry sky. Then there is the lantern of a safe house, but also of a slave catcher. Finally, freedom comes at last with the glorious color of the sun�s light, and the art extends the wordplay in an image of a joyful family holding up their own son�a baby boy born in freedom. A long appended note offers more historical context, and young readers can go on from here to other picture-book accounts of families torn apart by slavery and those saved by rescuers on the Underground Railroad. Preschool-Grade 3. --Hazel Rochman

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Age Range: 4 - 8 years
  
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Roaring Brook Press; 1 edition (January 18, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1596435380
• ISBN-13: 978-1596435384
• Product Dimensions: 11.3 x 8.8 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #504,696 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Shane Evans is a creative force. He comfortably wears titles
that include artist, author, illustrator, musician, songwriter,
and founder of Dream Studio, a community art space in Kansas
City, Missouri, where he resides. He has more than 30 books
to his credit as an illustrator, including Olu's Dream, which he
also authored. Many of the books have been featured in the
media such as The Oprah Winfrey Show, The Today Show,
Reading Rainbow, and Late Night with David Letterman. Five
of his books are scheduled for publication in 2010 including
"Chocolate Me" with actor Taye Diggs, "My Brother Charlie"
with actor Holly Robinson Peete, and "Black Jack," with
Coretta Scott King Award winning author Charles Smith. His
portfolio includes the "Shanna Show" (now a Disney animated
short along with the spinoff "Shane's Kindergarten
Countdown"). In addition, he has exhibited, lectured, and
developed art programs for youth in Burkina Faso, Botswana,
Brazil, China, France, Japan, Lesotho, and across the United
States. You can visit him online www.olusdream.com.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Rutgers University Project on Economics and Children April 2, 2011

By Yana V. Rodgers

Format:Hardcover

A family living in the bonds of slavery decides to make the dangerous attempt to find freedom. Along the way they find safe havens and friends of the Underground Railroad. The family members experience fear and fatigue along the way, but they keep going until they can wake up free to decide their own destinies.

With its sparse text, this picture book relies more on striking images to communicate to young readers the risks that enslaved people took to escape from bondage, and the joys they experienced upon first reaching a free state. A brief author's note provides more information about the Underground Railroad, which parents and teachers can use to talk with young learners about the history of slavery in the United States.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars A dark Story June 1, 2012

By Alyssa M. Molina

Format:Hardcover

This book can be used as an introduction of the unit Underground Railroad and slavery. Underground is a picture book with minimal text which adds value to the illustrations. Practically through the whole book the illustrator, Evans, uses all the dark colors to represent the dark journey one family portrayed. It was important for each page to illustrate the characters' actions and emotion to understand what is happening in the story. I do not recommend this book to early readers because it is important for readers to know the insight of this misfortunate historical happening.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars The journey to Freedom May 28, 2012

By Marisa

Format:Hardcover

Underground is a very moving picture book with minimal words. The few words that are in the book have strong meaning which hold a deeper connection with the given illustrations. It shows how many people of color suffered during slavery just to have some kind of freedom. This book should be used in classroom when history and slavery is introduces. Since there are minimal words teachers can have discussions of how some of these people may have felt when searching for freedom. The book Underground can be used to help young children understand the concept of the Underground Railroad that was developed to help slaves make their freedom journey a little easier. Author Shane W. Evans did a wonderful job creating and illustrating this book about historical events that are still learned about today.