All Aboard the Schooltrain

Starred review from December 19, 2022
This child’s view of the Great Migration begins with Thelma, a Black third grader living in Vacherie, La., watching trains pass by. One train, the Sunset Limited, is headed for California, where the child’s uncle fled when “a man named Jim Crow had made trouble.” Soon, Thelma joins a train of her own: the schooltrain, a line formed by Black kids of all ages to travel together to school. At school, the kids ride an imaginary train through history, courtesy of their teacher, who says that though slavery has ended, “We are still fighting for our rights.” When “Mr. Jim Crow” and his unjust laws come for her father, Thelma rides one more train—the Sunset Limited—when her family relocates in search of a better life. Morris’s digitally collaged tissue paper illustrations foreground figures and wide-open landscapes, and Armand, who draws on personal history, lends the meandering feel of family stories to this portrait of a historical moment. Back matter includes an author’s note and additional material. Ages 4–8.

January 1, 2023

Gr 2-5-In a story straight out of history, Thelma and her family love to watch trains pass through her hometown of Vacherie, LA, and she longs to be a passenger on one of the trains one day. As the end of summer looms, Thelma finds solace in knowing she can get back on the "schooltrain" once third grade begins. The day finally comes and Thelma, her cousins, and her friends all form the schooltrain-a single line-with everyone playing roles as the passengers, caboose, or engineer as they walk to school. Each day, rain or shine, the schooltrain passes through town, picking up friends along the way as the kids chant "Schooltrain! Schooltrain! Don't be late! The school bell rings at half past eight!" The story moves along as Thelma and her classmates try to embrace school life as it is very different from their white neighbors. The students enjoy classic stories and use their imaginations as they absorb all they can from an education with limitations. Sadly, one day Thelma's best friend is forced to move to Minnesota where her daddy is relocated to find a new job. Will Thelma's family be next? Morris's pictures illustrate unique images with rigid lines and deep hues of brown and rusty orange that perfectly capture the somber times of segregation. VERDICT This is a beautiful story that teaches courage and offers readers a glimpse into the daily life of a Black family. This picture book would pair well with a history lesson on Civil Rights and the Jim Crow laws.-Kerra Mazzariello

Copyright 2023 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from November 15, 2022
Climbing aboard a "train" to a better life, third grader Thelma joins other African American children on the walk to school. Again drawing on family history, the author of Black-Eyed Peas and Hoghead Cheese (2022), illustrated by Steffi Walthall, reframes her mother Thelma's childhood as a series of imagined train rides--first to a one-room school, then, in class, further on to dazzling destinations like Oz and Treasure Island and back in time to hear about Harriet Tubman and other heroes. On the way, Thelma learns that "Mr. Jim Crow" isn't a mean man who has driven her aunt and uncle away from their Louisiana town to California but a set of discriminatory laws and customs. "Just keep riding that schooltrain," her father says. But Thelma has one more train to board, the kind with wheels, when her father loses his job. On the platform, her teacher calms her worries about going to a new school in Los Angeles by handing her a book: "You have your ticket." Morris uses tissue collage and digital finishing to create richly hued scenes of brown-skinned, actively posed adults and children in small-town settings with, often, train tracks visible in the background. In a long afterword well stocked with personal photos, Armand retraces both the metaphorical and actual journeys, filling in details about Jim Crow as well as the Great Migration and her family's experience of them. (This book was reviewed digitally.) A vivid evocation of place and era rolling solidly on a bed of timeless values. (Historical picture book. 7-9)

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Starred review from December 1, 2022
Preschool-Grade 3 *Starred Review* During the 1930s, Thelma, a third-grader, lives with her parents and little sisters in rural Louisiana. After "Mr. Jim Crow" made trouble for Uncle Ed, he and Aunt Bea moved to California. Thelma loves waving to passing trains, and she enjoys taking a different kind of train to school: walking single file with other children, led by an eighth-grader as engineer and watched over by a sixth-grader as caboose. At each "stop" (a student's home), the kids chant, "Schooltrain! Schooltrain! Don't be late! / The school bell rings at half past eight!" In their one-room schoolhouse, the teacher emphasizes Black history and reminds her students that it will take education and courage to do away with Jim Crow. After Thelma's father loses his job, the family boards a train bound for California and new opportunities. The genuine warmth of the text derives from Armand's portrayal of Thelma's supportive family and close-knit Black community, which nurture and protect her. The story is firmly rooted in experiences from the author's childhood and her mother's. The narrative's setting is the small, rural Louisiana town where her parents grew up. Morris' imaginative digital illustrations feature lively, active scenes and expressive character portrayals. A child-friendly picture book introducing the Great Migration.

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