Do You Know Them? By Shana Keller & Art by Laura Freeman (2024)
Many, many moons ago, I taught 5th grade. Our social studies curriculum began with the Vikings/Early exploration and ended with the Civil War. Cram the early colonies, the American Revolution, the creation of the Constitution, Westward Expansion and more in between those two and, you get the gist, we covered quite a bit of history! By the time we got to the Civil War, all 28 kids and I were sweating in our non-air-conditioned classroom. Let’s just presume very little Civil War information was retained. I paint a chaotic picture, but I can assure you that Do You Know Them? by Shana Keller & art by Laura Freeman will definitely capture your students’ attention.
Do You Know Them? is a historical fiction picture book. Lettie is a smart, industrious girl who has newly-acquired freedom. As an enslaved child, Lettie was uprooted from her family, but the end of the Civil War and the freedom of enslaved peoples has given her a beam of hope. During her regular Sunday church worship, Lettie reads newspaper advertisements aloud to the congregation. These costly advertisements are used by newly freed people as a tool to find their scattered family members. Lettie hopes to save her pennies and run an ad to find her missing parents and siblings. One day, she gathers her hard-earned money and runs the ad. That beam of hope broadens when we hear, “SHE KNOWS THEM!”
Head: My favorite books leave me wanting to know more about a particular subject and that holds true with Do You Know Them? There are so many great questions to explore with your students: What type of communication/technology existed at this time to assist in the reunification of newly freed peoples? Why couldn’t most of the congregation read? How is education and information (or the lack of) used to control people? How does Lettie’s reading ability make her a leader in her congregation? The book has primary sources abound. Keller used real, historical advertisements within the book. Bravo for teaching young kids about primary sources, Ms. Keller!
Heart: Enslaved peoples often had their families torn apart - as family members were sold and sometimes sent to other counties or states. Displacement. Grief. Trauma. When I think about this time in our dark history, I am disturbed by the pervasive, brutal inhumanity. I devote much of my life to keeping kids safe, through my activism in gun violence prevention, my commitment to the North Chicago Community Partners Board and my manuscripts connecting kids to important environmental issues. I hope that we continue to shine a light on the need for ALL children, both locally and globally, to live in safety, health and love. And, to do that, it truly takes a village.