23. Aquila's Drinking Gourd (A story of the Underground Railroad)

23. Aquila's Drinking Gourd

Author: Pamela Dell

Tradition Books Publishing, 2003

47 pages
Historical Fiction

I chose this book because the story of the Underground Railroad is one of my most favorite events in history to read about. This book is about a girl named Aquila who was sold as a slave and separated from her family. Aquila's father would tell her stories of the Underground Railroad and how one day they would all escape and be reunited there. Aquila's drinking gourd was given to her from her father for her eleventh birthday and she used it. Aquila's drinking gourd had a special meaning to it and always provided her with hope whenever she saw the message carved into the back of the gourd by her father.

The illustrations in this book are a combination of pictures with captions describing the photographs from the actual Underground Railroad and maps, hand sketched drawings with pencil, and illustrations done with watercolors and oils. The text is placed on the sides of the paper creating a space in the middle for the illustrations. There is no negative space on any of the pages and the colors used are cool colors such as: browns, blues, purples, and greens.

This book is one that should be in a classroom because it can be incorporated into a language arts lesson or a social studies lesson. For social studies the students will be introduced to the slavery movement and how the Underground Railroad led many slaves to a life of freedom. In language arts the students could write an essay about an African American who changed history for the slaves and was a leader in the movement or students could research information about the Underground Railroad and details about how the slaves used it to gain freedom. This book is one that I want to have in my own personal classroom library because of the relationship Aquila has with her father. I am close with my father and could relate to the gift that Aquila received. This book does not have any awards, but does have a vast amount of facts and information on each page and would be great to use as a resource.