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4.12 AVERAGE
4.12 AVERAGE
A fantastic historical fiction picture book! The author did an excellent job blending truth and fiction to make an engaging children's book.
Meet Miss Fancy is truly a one of a kind civil rights book. It presents the harsh realities of the movement in a truly kid-friendly story scenario, it is not too text heavy that young readers would not benefit, and it is based off a true story! Most notably, the hero of the book is the local police officer who extends his kindness to Frank. This is important because most civil rights books for children focus on the poor actions of public service members in that time.
The narrative follows a little boy in Birmingham Alabama who has a dream of meeting the retired circus elephant Miss Fancy up close like all the white children in the city's Avondale park.
At first Frank settles for watching Miss Fancy from afar, but the limitation soon becomes too stifling. He attempts to bring about change by petitioning the city government to allow his church to picnic within park grounds- and though the city agrees, de facto segregation forces the church to withdraw.
When all seemed lost, Frank helps return Miss Fancy to the park after one of her famed escapes. The book ends when a police officer asks Frank if he would like to ride Miss Fancy as a reward for his help.
I highly recommend this book.
The narrative follows a little boy in Birmingham Alabama who has a dream of meeting the retired circus elephant Miss Fancy up close like all the white children in the city's Avondale park.
At first Frank settles for watching Miss Fancy from afar, but the limitation soon becomes too stifling. He attempts to bring about change by petitioning the city government to allow his church to picnic within park grounds- and though the city agrees, de facto segregation forces the church to withdraw.
When all seemed lost, Frank helps return Miss Fancy to the park after one of her famed escapes. The book ends when a police officer asks Frank if he would like to ride Miss Fancy as a reward for his help.
I highly recommend this book.
This is a precious story about a young boy named Frank, who loved elephants. But when he and his fellow classmates raised enough money to bring Miss Fancy to Birmingham, black children were not allowed to touch or ride her. But as Miss Fancy escapes the zoo, Frank ends up saving the day using peanuts to lure her back home. While this story contains fictional characters like Frank and his mother, there was a real life elephant named Miss Fancy. And schoolchildren really did raise enough money (in pennies) to purchase her from the circus. Furthermore, there really were segregation laws that prevented African American families from coming into certain places, like the zoo. So this historical experience was written right into the storyline. An Author’s Note shares more about Miss Fancy’s life before and after her time in Birmingham.
For more children's literature, middle grade literature, and YA literature reviews, feel free to visit my personal blog at The Miller Memo!
For more children's literature, middle grade literature, and YA literature reviews, feel free to visit my personal blog at The Miller Memo!
Loved it - great illustrations and story telling about Fancy, an elephant that lived in Alabama through the 30's and the fictional story of a boy who desperately wanted to meet Fancy. Parts are based on history - Fancy really did exist, and an African American church really did petition to be able to hold a picnic on the grounds of the town park, but with draw the request after it's approval because of the controversy.