To read more about Evelyn Coleman or to order any of her books, which are reviewed below, click here
Review from Publisher's Weekly :
Hezekiah, identified not as a slave but an ``enslaved man,'' dreams of being ``free like a
bird.'' After his escape attempt is thwarted by a band of snapping dogs, Hezekiah takes a
tip from a wise crow and resolves to discover the slave master's weaknesses and through
them find a way to freedom. So he offers his services as a foot warmer, spending the cold
winter nights under the "smelly covers'' of Master Thompson's bed, listening
carefully as the white man spills secrets in his sleep. When spring comes, Hezekiah knows
his master's deepest fear and leaps from this knowledge to freedom. Coleman's elegantly
told tale emphasizes the importance of self-respect while decrying the injustice of
slavery. Debut illustrator Minter's bold art has the air of suspended animation, of deep
emotion frozen and distilled until it verges on the extreme. Facial expressions are often
grotesque, an odd combination of hilarity and fear, capturing the book's sadness as well
as its fundamental optimism. Ages 6-up. (Sept.) -Publisher's
Weekly
Review from The Horn Book, Inc. :
Coleman's understated prose style gives a sense of power to this slave story. Hezekiah, a
dwarf, after years of mistreatment by his cruel master finally gets revenge, with the aid
of a mystical crow. Minter's creative use of space, size, perspective, and color add
dramatic strength to this tale of heroism, retribution, and the endless quest for freedom.
Review from School Library Journal :
Gr 2-5-Hezekiah is a slave with a cruel master. He dreams of escaping his bondage and,
with the help of an unlikely friend, a crow, finds a way to fulfill his dream. Agreeing to
be the master's foot warmer, Hezekiah learns the man's secret fear, outwits him, and gains
his freedom. With a gripping, terse narrative that is reminiscent of the stories found in
the last section of Virginia Hamilton's The People Could Fly (Knopf, 1985), this is a
powerful statement to the suffering of a people and their will to survive. Enhancing the
text are bold, almost surreal painted wood carvings in crayon-bright colors that capture
the emotions of both master and slave. The crow is a character in its own right, and the
illustrations reverberate with its strong personality. A moving picture book that will
leave a lasting impression in the hearts and minds of readers.-Pamela K. Bomboy,
Chesterfield County Public Schools, VA -School Library Journal
Review from BookList :
This begins with a grandmother telling a tale of her childhood in the segregated South:
"You know, when I was a little girl, like yourself, I sneaked into town once. Yep,
all by myself." All dressed up and hiding eggs in her pockets, the little girl walks
down the road past the feared and revered Chicken Man, who supposedly has powers,
including the ability to turn his enemies into chickens. In town, the girl breaks an egg
on the sidewalk to see if it will really fry. Seeing a drinking fountain with a sign that
says "Whites Only" and a step stool for children, she takes off her black shoes
and steps up in her clean white socks. After a white man throws her to the ground, other
black people step up to the fountain and drink. Then the Chicken Man joins them, he drinks
from the fountain, points at the white man (a chicken later turns up at the fountain), and
tells the child to go home. Impressionistic oil paintings sensitively illustrate the
place, the time, the heat, and the child's emotions. Although the last part of the story
is somewhat confusing, the book works as an effective portrayal of a child's innocence and
her awakening to racism. -Carolyn Phelan
Review from Publisher's Weekly :
Subtle and stirring, this tale-within-a-tale begins with an affectionate exchange between
an African American girl and her grandmother, then telescopes to encompass an electrifying
moment fraught with personal and political significance. Grandma tells of sneaking off to
town one sizzling summer day when she was a child, 'planning on doing no good.'
Approaching a water fountain, the thirsty girl mistakes its 'Whites Only' sign to mean
that she should take off her shoes so that only her white socks will touch the step stool.
A 'big white man' grabs her and removes his belt to whip her-prompting African American
bystanders to remove their shoes, too, and defiantly drink from the fountain. At home, the
narrator's mother proclaims she can now go to town by herself, ' 'cause you're old enough
to do some good'; in town, 'the 'Whites Only' sign was gone from that water fountain
forever.' Though Coleman (The Footwarmer and the Black Crow) complicates the story with
some unnecessary subplots, the impact is strong. Geter's (Dawn and the Round-to-it) full-
and double-page paintings can be hazy, but they conduct the story's considerable emotional
charge.
Review from The Horn Book, Inc. :
In segregated Mississippi, a young African-American girl, thinking that the "Whites
Only" sign on the water fountain means "white socks only," removes her
shoes and drinks. When a white man attacks her, she is rescued by the mysterious Chicken
Man, who knows things "all the way from Africa." Despite a couple of big
discrepancies in the illustrations, the book tells a compelling story.
Review from School Library Journal :
Gr 2-4In this story, a grandmother relates an incident from her childhood to her
granddaughter. On a scorching hot Mississippi day, a little girl walks into town by
herself to learn whether it really is possible to fry an egg on the sidewalk. Mission
accomplished, she is on her way home when she stops for a drink of water. Interpreting the
"whites only" sign on the water fountain to refer to socks, the African American
child takes off her patent-leather shoes and has just begun to drink when an angry white
man grabs her and pushes her to the ground. He threatens to "whup" her, but the
black townspeople come to the girl's aid by taking off their shoes and drinking from the
same fountain. The angry bigot then receives punishment at the hands of a local conjure
man. Atmospheric paintings, smudged and moody, will draw readers into this gripping tale.
However, the story has some unsettling elements. The protagonist is old enough to go into
town alone, yet she is oblivious to the meaning of the "whites only" sign. Her
certainty that the sign refers to white socks is also curious; knowing that is what it
means implies some prior knowledge, but she clearly does not have the facts straight.Anna
DeWind, Milwaukee Public Library -School Library Journal
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The Glass Bottle Tree
Review from The Horn Book, Inc. :
When her ancestral spirits become too rowdy, Grandmother captures them in bottles and
places the bottles upside down on the limbs of a tree, in accordance with an
African-American custom. When social workers come to take her granddaughter away, the
spirits rally to the rescue. In the touching story of unspoken love, the soft watercolor
washes express the tender bond between grandparent and child.
Review from School Library Journal :
K-Gr 3-This ambitious text starts out simply and elegantly, introducing a girl, her
grandmother, and what appears to be the central focus of the book, a tree that houses the
old spirits of the family. To contain these exuberant spirits, colored glass bottles are
placed over the limbs. The relationship between grandmother and granddaughter is then
explored. The two spend their time in loving silence as the girl learns to garden, swim,
and knit. But trouble appears in the form of two state workers who decide that the girl
would be better off in a more traditional home. When they arrive to take her away, the
grandmother wordlessly summons the ancestral spirits for help. And help they do, sending
those interfering folks back on down the road, in silent agreement never to return. The
soft watercolor illustrations add greatly to readers' appreciation of the characters and
setting. They are sunny, warm, and highly sympathetic toward the grandmother, while making
it clear that it's the state workers who have no color or inner vision in their lives.
However, although the language is touched with a poetic sensibility, the themes are
weighty, even disturbing. The idea of two people communicating without words builds to
unnatural proportions, while the tree, which is the hook of the tale, diminishes in
importance until the grand finale.-Martha Topol, Northwestern Michigan College, Traverse
City, MI -School Library Journal
