Through My Eyes

 

Title: Through my Eyes

Author: Ruby Bridges

Age: 11-14

Award:  1999 Parents’ Choice Award; 2000 Jane Addams Children’s Book Award; 2000 Carter G. Woodson Book Award

 

This book is about Ruby Bridges’ experiences during 1960, as she integrated William Frantz Public School when she was six years old. She was the only African-American student that integrated that school that year. This book tells her story as she remembers it then. The book also includes photographs that show the protestors that were there as Ruby went to school each day. Quotes from articles and interviews give a picture of the turbulent times during the Civil Rights Movement. The illustrations in this book are black and white photographs using sepia tones from a variety of sources that document Ruby’s first grade year during integration. The photographs are very powerful in their portrayal of the courage that Ruby demonstrated.
 

I would use this book during my study of the Civil Rights Movement in social studies and during Black History Month in February. This book could also be used to during a genre unit on biographies and autobiographies. Another way to use this book would be during a study of children who make a difference in the world.