This book takes one particular subject in our nation’s history (the cotton industry) and explains it so well with pictures, quotes, and text. This book brings to students’ attention the true story of slavery. The treatment and work of slaves is told in truth in this book and I honestly have learned a lot. This was a very fascinating book which kept my interest with its facts, pictures, and interview quotes. A great characteristic of Up Before Daybreak is there are very little pages with just words. There is at least one picture to break up the text which makes it a lot easier to read and to hold the reader’s attention. I love the realistic pictures. They take you back to that time period to see what the world was like and I feel each picture was well chosen and represented the information in the text. Even the quotes said by real slaves allow us to see further into the life of a slave and the work done on cotton plantations. The interviews and pictures of former slaves and their work “give us insights into life in slavery times” (p.3). Students can see that slaves were treated as objects and not people. They were traded like we borrow items from friends or buy something from the store. That is what they did back then and it is important for students to see how far we have come since then. I, myself, was fascinated by the pictures and I caught myself looking at the pictures before reading. I study the pictures before reading so that I can have a general knowledge of what is to come in the text on the page.
I like how the author helps readers understand situations that occurred back then by comparing them to something readers would know about. For example, on page 12, the author helps explain the difficulty of pulling the seeds out of the fibers- “If you hold a boll of fuzzy seed cotton in your hand and squeeze, you can feel the tiny bumps of seeds inside. But when you try to get the seeds out- watch out! It’s tricky. The cotton fiber sticks to them. It’s a little like trying to pull stickers off your socks after you’ve been for a walk in a field or getting burs out of the thick coat of a dog.” The reader can visualize a sticker or bur caught in their sock and probably relate to that frustration. I can relate to and understand that because I had to pull so many stickers out my clothes as a kid after walking/playing in my grandparents’ backyard in central Texas. I am sure there are many other items in this book which students can make connections.
Overall, Up Before Daybreak gives a good amount of information about the cotton industry then and now without overwhelming the reader with too much detail. I enjoyed reading this book, especially because it was not too long and it kept my attention. I love history books and this one was a 5 star book!
I like how the author helps readers understand situations that occurred back then by comparing them to something readers would know about. For example, on page 12, the author helps explain the difficulty of pulling the seeds out of the fibers- “If you hold a boll of fuzzy seed cotton in your hand and squeeze, you can feel the tiny bumps of seeds inside. But when you try to get the seeds out- watch out! It’s tricky. The cotton fiber sticks to them. It’s a little like trying to pull stickers off your socks after you’ve been for a walk in a field or getting burs out of the thick coat of a dog.” The reader can visualize a sticker or bur caught in their sock and probably relate to that frustration. I can relate to and understand that because I had to pull so many stickers out my clothes as a kid after walking/playing in my grandparents’ backyard in central Texas. I am sure there are many other items in this book which students can make connections.
Overall, Up Before Daybreak gives a good amount of information about the cotton industry then and now without overwhelming the reader with too much detail. I enjoyed reading this book, especially because it was not too long and it kept my attention. I love history books and this one was a 5 star book!
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