By Vaunda Micheaux Nelson http://www.adamsliterary.com/clients/nelson/nelson.html
Illustrated by R. Gregory Christie http://www.gas-art.com/
Carolrhoda Books Minneapolis, New York 2009
Oil Paint
Annotation
Bass Reeves was an African American U.S Marshal who patrolled Indian territories in the "Wild West". Born into slavery, Bass fought along with his slave owner in the Civil War, but eventually escaped into Indian Territory and lived there staking a claim.
Personal Reaction
This is a celebratory book discussing African American history in a way text books tend to ignore. The wild west is rich with African American history, especially the black cowboys who were the most skilled in horsemanship after the Emancipation Proclamation was passed. This book, with its detailed and rich oil paintings, is a perfect culturally relevant book for groups of students in need of books depicting their own historical story. Bass Reeves tells a little known story of escaped slaves living in Indian territory before slavery was illegal. The cover illustration of Reeves in dark shady brown, black and white is striking, almost eerie in front of the white back ground. The font print of the title feels like an old west cowboy poster, maybe a wanted poster. The book follows his life in short chapter like categories portraying him as a smart free thinking and fair deputy.
Lesson Plan https://docs.google.com/leaf?id=0BzBMSRW54LduNWZhYTIzODYtYjUyNC00MWZjLWFmYjUtMjljYTA2MzJlMGY0&hl=en_US
Curricular connections
African American
Indian Territory
Wild West (1875-1900)
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