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| Book cover from Penguin |
Lyons, K.S. and Minter, D. (2012). Ellen's broom. New York, NY: G.P. Putnam's Sons.
*Winner of a 2013 Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor*
In Ellen's Broom, Ellen is a little girl whose parents are former slaves. A law has just been enacted to recognize the marriages of emancipated slaves, and her family is going to the courthouse to get a marriage license for her parents. They tell the children about how slaves had married symbolically with a ceremony in which they jumped over a broom together to begin a new life as husband and wife. Ellen loves the idea of the tradition and declares that the broom is important to their family history. Reading Ellen's Broom is a great way to introduce children to the injustices of slavery and to get them thinking about their own family's traditions. Ellen is a great role model; she is a curious and strong-willed girl who loves her family above all else.
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