Aunt Harriet's Underground Railroad in the Sky by Faith Ringold references the history of slaves escaping from the United States to Canada. Her paintings are powerful, and yet, they offer a little visual blurring of the cruelty in her text. The "hundreds of bedraggled men, women, and children" who board a train at the beginning of the story are shapes that only hint at the horror of this scene. Later, these shapes become more human when Ringgold gives them distinct line, and we see the whites of their eyes. This is a story of young Cassie who travels the underground railroad alone. Railroad agents assist her while bounty hunters stalk her. There’s a two-page history lesson at the back of the book.
This story is read aloud online by Storytime with Lorelei.
My Picture Book Talk for this story is here.
This is a complete rewrite of the lesson in my store in 2021, which TPT took down.
On Classful this resource is here.
