Children's Literature @ NYPL

Booktalking "The Other Side" by Jacqueline Woodson

A fence separates the homes where white folks live and the homes where black folks live. Clover notices a little girl on the other side of the fence. She wants to play with her and her friends, but everyone's mothers told them not to go over the fence. Unfortunately, the white girl is all alone and she looks sad. However, she has fun playing in the rain, which Clover is not allowed to do.

Clover takes to sitting on the fence, and she talks to the white girl, whose name is Annie. They sit on the fence together, since there is no prohibition against sitting on the fence. Annie and Clover spend a lot of time on the fence talking to each other. Clover's friends become curious about Annie.

The Other Side by Jacqueline Woodson, 2001

I love the simplicity of the watercolor illustrations.

Comments

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The Other Side

I love this gentle look at the very difficult topic of racial integration. I share it with my first graders each year during our discussion of MLK. Their insights are fascinating.