Ellen's Broom

Ellen's Broom

Written by: Kelly Starling Lyons
Illustrated by: Daniel Minter
Genre: Multicultural
Grades: 3-5
Awards: Coretta Scott King Award for Illustrators

This book follows Ellen and her family after the times when slavery days were finally over. Everyone in the church was rejoicing as they were free. The same day, the deacon announced to the congregation that all former slaves that lived together as husband and wife can finally be registered and be looked at as married by law. Back home, Ellen's mother have always explained the story of the broom above their fire mantel to their children and that the significance was that it was mainly used for weddings. The mother and father explained that back then when they were not allowed to marry, so they just used a broom, set it on the ground, and jumped over it to leap into life together. A few weeks later, the day has finally come where Ellen's parents can finally marry each other, along with the rest of their church's congregation couples. They arrived at the courthouse and Ellen had her parent's broom with her, but decided that it needed to be really pretty, so she dragged her sister out to put flowers in the broom. Ellen's mother held the broom as a bouquet. The Freedmen's Bureau officer interviewed them asked for their names, how many years have they started living together as husband and wife, the names and ages of their children. The man then announced that they are married in the eyes of God and the law, and they had a certificate to take home. The family celebrated by having a picnic underneath a tree and the children insisted that their parents jump over the broom once again as it is a part of who they are. At home, they hanged the flower decorated broom and marriage certificate above the fire mantel.

I really love this book and would like to have this in my classroom. This book would be good for students in the third to fifth grade. This would be a good book to read aloud during Black History Month and explain to the students the restrictions they went through, like not being allowed to get married.