The Chalk Doll by Charlotte Pomerantz (1989) is a conversation between a mother and young child. When little Rose asks about her mother's childhood in Jamaica, her mother first remembers sewing a ragdoll. Frane Lessac’s illustration shows her sitting at a table in a small house surrounded by a bright green Jamaican countryside. She’s folding cloth to cut and sew into the Black doll we see beside side the text. However, she covets the dolls in shop windows and is thrilled to receive a broken chalk doll discarded by her aunt’s employer. The chalk doll is White. I felt a deep uneasiness seep into the story at this point. Rose's mother received only a teaspoon of milk each day. She did not have birthday parties nor wear shoes, except for church on Sundays. Lessac shows Rose's grandmother sewing dresses at night by the light of an oil lamp. She has little time to make her own child a dress. The illustrated scenes of Jamaica contrast with Rose's home. I like how this story implies three points of view about a childhood: those of daughter Rose, her mother as an adult, and her mother as a child.
Bright Gems Learning has Introduction to Jamaica PowerPoint Lesson. Color By Culture has a Jamaica Coloring Page.
