Author: Mary Hoffman
Title: Amazing Grace
Publisher: Dial Books for Young Readers, 1991.
Grade Level: K-2
Summary: Grace is a fun loving, story loving young girl. When her classmates tell her she cannot be Peter Pan in the school play because she is black and a girl, Grace becomes determined to show everyone that you can do anything you put your mind to.
Strengths: Grace is certainly the biggest strength of this book. I think almost every child can relate to her in some way. Whether its her relationship with her grandma, her love of stories, the joy she finds in dressing up like characters from stories, or being told she cannot do something, I think each child will be able to relate to Grace in some way. I also think the overall message of the story is encouraging to all students, that despite what everyone else says, if you work hard and believe in yourself there is nobody that can stop you. Another strength of this story is the beautiful watercolors. They are warm, vibrant and give life to Grace.
Classroom Use: Grace would be a wonderful inspiration for students to recreate their favorite stories. It would be a great book to read before introducing the idea of Reader’s Theater, citing all of her costumes and the use of imagination to recreate her favorite stories.
(image from Amazon.com)
There are several sequels to this book, fyi - you might enjoy them if you haven't already discovered them.
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