Black History Month in February

February was a busy month in the Library.  We celebrated Valentines day, Presidents day, and Black History month.   For grades K-2 we read  a book about civil rights called "This is the Dream" by Diane Z. Shore and Jessica Alexander, Illustrated by James Ransome.  For Grades 3-6 we read a book about the civil war  "Abraham's Battle" by Sara Harrell banks.

"With courage they rallied and answered the call . . . dreaming of freedom and justice for all."

The United States of America was founded on the declaration that all men are created equal. But nearly two hundred years after that proclamation, America was still deeply segregated.

Slowly but surely, powerful leaders as well as everyday citizens spoke up for their dreams and beliefs. Soon, a people proud and strong stood up as one for their rights, and a new America came to be.

barnesandnoble.com

In 1863, as the Civil War approaches his home in Gettysburg and he realizes that a big battle is about to begin, a freed slave named Abraham decides to join the ambulance corps of the Union Army. 

Abraham, tries his best to prepare himself and the little girl in his charge for the Confederate soldiers who have begun filing into Gettysburg. When he comes face-to-face with a young Southern soldier, he's suspicious -- Lamar is, after all, the enemy. Once they begin discussing the war and the general state of events, though, the two find some common ground. They might be friends -- if Lamar wasn't from Georgia, and in Gettysburg to fight.

When Lamar falls in battle, it is not one of his fellow soldiers who helps him off the battlefield -- it is Abraham. One friend helps another. Few had seen such courage and honesty in the Civil War, however, and Abraham's deed does not go unnoticed or unrewarded. He in fact receives the highest honor imaginable...

 barnesandnoble.com