This Is the Rope: A Story of the Great Migration by Jacqueline Woodson - ADVISABLE

Woodson, Jacqueline  This Is the Rope:  A Story of the Great Migration  Illustrated by James Ransome Penguin, 2013.  $16.99  PICTURE BOOK  Content: G.  

This is a story about a rope that spanned three generations of women from the South through their migration to the North.  The grandmother used the rope to play jump rope under her tree in the south, then sent it with her daughter when she moved north with her family.  When the daughter lived in the north, she used the rope to hang the laundry and then when the granddaughter was little she also used the rope to play jump rope.  When the granddaughter played jump rope at the end, her grandparents and parents are watching her.  

There is a lot of implied history throughout this book.  It doesn’t explain what the Great Migration was, or what it was like to live it, but it gives a simple feel for generations being connected even when time is changing and they live in different places.  This is a great start to introducing the idea of the Great Migration to little kids.   The illustrations are beautiful as well.  

EL (K-3)-ADVISABLE.  Reviewer, C. Peterson.