Pistes d'exploration

Brainstorm what you know about black history. Make predictions based on the cover.

Make a timeline of Ruby Bridges’ life. Add important milestones of the American civil rights movement.

Write a diary entry from the point of view of one of the characters in the story. Describe and reflect on your day.

Brainstorm what you know about black history. Make predictions based on the cover.

Construct a story map of the events in Ruby’s life. Include information from the afterword. Research event dates where necessary.

Discuss current civil rights issues.

Draw a character map of Ruby. Include physical and emotional character traits.

As the story is read aloud, pause and discuss it after each page. Add new vocabulary to your personal dictionary.

Discuss the story in small groups: Describe Ruby Bridges. Why was she not welcomed at her school? What were her teacher’s thoughts? What did Ruby do to help her cope in difficult moments?

Write an encyclopedia entry about Ruby Bridges. Include anecdotes from her life and examples from the text, such as her mother’s words at the beginning of the story.

Viola Desmond Won't Be Budged!, The Girl From the Tar Paper School: Barbara Rose Johns and the Advent of the Civil Rights Movement, Martin's Big Words: The Life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Sister Anne's Hands, Freedom Summer

Mots-clés

Biography , Black history , children's rights , civil rights , forgiveness , racism , Ruby Bridges , school life

Commentaire descriptif

It is 1960. Escorted by marshals every day, 6-year-old Ruby faces angry white mobs on her way to school, but she is determined to get an education. Her teacher, Mrs. Henry, is compassionate and supportive. How Ruby stands her ground and fights discrimination with forgiveness and courage is the subject of this moving tribute based on the true story of Ruby Bridges, the first African-American to attend an all-white school in New Orleans. Well-suited for read-aloud, the text simplifies a complex topic without talking down to readers, inviting us to understand history from a young girl’s perspective. Ruby ends up being “a credit to her own people and . . . to all the American people.” In the final scene, she prays to God “to forgive those people. Because even if they say those bad things, they don’t know what they’re doing.” Full-page watercolour paintings in realistic detail favour warm earth tones and deftly capture the turmoil of the civil rights era without being overly frightening. The focus is on Ruby’s bravery and on the clashing attitudes of whites and blacks. An afterword continues Ruby’s story, providing more information about the eventual desegregation of the schools and about her adult years.