Week 10: Historical Fiction & Biographical Fiction

Ragtime Tumpie

by: Alan Schroeder

Second Grade 

 

• APA Citation: Schroeder, A., & Fuchs, B. (1993). Ragtime Tumpie. Boston: Joy Street Books.

• Description: "One of the most colorful periods in American history is vividly brought to life in this stirring account of Josephine Baker's childhood. Tumpie, inspired by the vivacious ragtime music of turn-of-the-century St. Louis, dreams of escaping her life on Gratiot Street and becoming a famous honky-tonk dancer. Her determination, pluck, and exuberance will have children clapping, tapping, and rooting for her from the beginning." Retrieved from Amazon.com on November 11, 2017: https://www.amazon.com/Ragtime-Tumpie-HARCOURT-SCHOOL-PUBLISHERS/dp/0316775045.

• Age/Grade Level: 4-8 years old, 2nd - 5th Grade

• Justification: This book is really inspirational, as it is based on the true story of Josephine Baker, who grew up in poverty and overcame obstacles to follow her dream to become a dancer. Following one's dreams is an important lesson to impart to students, as well as the importance of believing in yourself. After reading this book together with the class, students will reflect on what their dreams and talents are. They will then write and illustrate a short story featuring them following their chosen dream. This will demonstrate CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.2.3 Write narratives in which they recount a well-elaborated event or short sequence of events, include details to describe actions, thoughts, and feelings, use temporal words to signal event order, and provide a sense of closure. (English Language Arts Standards >> Writing  >> Grade 2, Retrieved from Common Core State Standard Initiatives on November 11, 2017: http://www.corestandards.org/ELA-Literacy/W/2/)

• Keywords: dance, dreams, determination, African-American

• Review: " Full-page paintings in mellow tones of gold and brown, with warm touches of rosy pink, show black Americans in turn-of-the-century St. Louis. Smiling workers, musicians, and housewives surround the small, appealing figure of the young girl who would one day be the famous Josephine Baker. The accompanying text tells how "Tumpie," as she was then called, spent her days picking half-rotted fruit from the freight yards and gathering coal fallen from the hopper cars. At night, Tumpie would go with her mother to the honky-tonks, to hear ragtime music and to dance to the "syn-co-pa-tion" of the drums. When, one day, a traveling peddlar staged a dance contest in the neighborhood, Tumpie won the prize, a shiny silver dollar, and knew that dance would be her life. The story of Tumpie is fiction, based on what is known of Baker's early years, and a brief note describes the entertainer's later career. The book can be used as fictionalized biography to introduce Baker, a black woman who found fame and fortune in Europe earlier in this century. However, its most obvious use, magnificently achieved in the vibrant illustrations, is to present a slice-of-American-life in an urban black community, and to show the capacity of music and dance to enrich the lives of people even in the poorest of material circumstances. --Shirley Wilton, Ocean County College, Toms River, NJ
  Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title." From School Library Journal. Retrieved from Amazon.com on November 11, 2017: https://www.amazon.com/Ragtime-Tumpie-HARCOURT-SCHOOL-PUBLISHERS/dp/0316775045. 

• Citation: Award listing retrieved on November 11, 2017 from: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/authors/27294/alan-schroeder.

• Awards: This was Alan Schroeder's first book, and it was chosen as an ALA Notable Book, a Booklist Children’s Editors’ Choice, and a Parents’ Choice Award winner.