Customer Reviews

White Socks Only

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4 star:		(1)
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"White Socks Only" takes place in segregated Mississippi and does an excellent job of helping young children realize how foolish it is to judge others by the color of their skin. On a hot Mississippi day, a young African-American girl walks into town and stops at a drinking fountain to get a drink. She sees a "Whites Only" sign on the drinking fountain and misinterprets the meaning of the sign. She innocently thinks the sign must mean "White Socks Only", so she takes off her black, Sunday best shoes and steps up to the fountain wearing her clean white socks. Suddenly, an angry white man pushes her to the ground. Soon other African-Americans gather around the fountain. To show their support and understanding of the child's innocent mistake, one by one they also take off their shoes and step up to get a drink with red, yellow, or blue socks. She is rescued by the "Chicken Man," who has very unusual powers.

This book deals with the issue of racism in a way that young children can relate to and understand because it makes the idea of judging people by the color of their skin almost as foolish as judging people by the color of their socks. I read this book to my fifth grade class and it generated some wonderful discussions about racism, and treating others with respect and kindness regardless of who they are, where they live, the color of their skin, or what clothes they wear. I highly recommend this book.

I read this book to my children and they loved it. Even at their ages - 7 and 8 - they clearly understood the irony of the title. This story gives children a front-row view of how ugly prejudice is, but does so in a gentle enough manner that it is appropriate for young ones.

The book, in an attempt to teach children about the injustice of prejudice, actually trivializes it. A little girl wanders into the busy downtown area of a segrgated southern city apparently oblivious to the danger around her. She mistakes a "Whites Only" sign on a public fountain as a direction to wear only white socks while drinking. A white townsman is very angred by this and a confrontation ensues. What I found disturbing about the story was the amount of violence against a little African American girl at the hands of a caucasian adult male and the African American adults who come to her aid. The white man is shown to "whup" the child and all of the adults none of whom seen willing or able to defend themselves. Given that there is no mention of the role of non-violent resistance in the Civil Rights movement, the African American adults simply appear helpless or worse witless. The day is saved when a "magic" man comes along and points at the white man and begins to whisper incantations. The white man runs away for fear and the whites only sign comes down forever. At the end of the book there is an illustration of a Chicken wearing a bandana like the one the white man was wearing. What is the messege here? That African Americans were passive? That they failed to teach their children about the dangers of the segrgated south? That they fought injustice with magic? If you want to teach children about the foolishness of prejudice, I suggest "The Story of Ruby Bridges" which focuses on courage,faith and determination.

I have been wanting this book for a long time. I am so glad that I got it!

This is an excellent story about American history and cultural awareness. It is a moving viewpoint of a child in the face of bigotry and discrimination. It's a wonderful story of hope and innocence.

I read this story to my students and were saddened by the events that took place but learned a valuable lesson! We are all equal no matter which color or race we are! A good book for children to learn that racism through the eyes of a little girl.

White Socks Only
Author: Tyrone Geter
Illustrator: Evelyn Coleman

``He started hitting me and everybody else in the park.'' Grandmother was drinking from the fountain but she had a problem, it was a white fountain and she was black. The main character is the grandmother, when she was little. People were yelling at her and she didn't know why. The story takes place in a park in Mississippi during the 1950's. If you thought segregation was bad, so does this book. This book is for ages five to ten and, grades two to six. People who also like reading about segregation should read this book. To me this book starts out good then gets harsh when the grandmother got hit by the white man, but by the end it gets good because other black people stand up for her. The theme of this book is ``it doesn't mater the way you look as long as you trust your heart.'' Evelyn Coleman makes the pictures in this book look like you are there. She used beautiful oil paints so everything blends. Take this book to the park and read it then put you in your place.
Book review by the amazing Sarah M.