This book is great for second or third graders. Ellington Was Not a Street does a fabulous job of incorporating prominent black figures and storytelling through the eyes of a young black woman. Her interactions with the constant change seen in her house are representative of her community through predominately visual aid. Many valuable lessons and conversations can be derived from this book without overwhelming younger students. ( )

This book was fr ages 7-9. It is about this little girls growing up with all these historical civil rights leaders that come to her house. And that she sees the world changing around her and th people that are doing it. ( )

kindergarten - 2nd, it has a lot of pictures and very few words making it ideal for our young readers. It follows a little girls life as she sees the changes that happen in her house (which represents the world) as the African American community is treated differently. It is a great informational book that will help start a conversation in your classroom.

I loved this book -- the rhythm of the language, the little girl protagonist, the introduction to historical figures who were actually real people to the little girl, and now, to the reader. I would have wished for more women! But otherwise it was perfect. ( )

In the art of poetic junction and meter, Ntozake Shange pens a poetic masterpiece that vividly tells the story of the contributions of black men in our 2oth century history. Men like Duke Ellington, W.E.B. Dubois, Paul Robeson to mention a few are beautifully depicted in such subtle but poignant illustrations that they leave a mark and tell the story with detail. The book opens with a street sign 'Ellington' and the poem begins 'it hasn't always been this way, ellington was not a street.' You notice first off that not one of the sentences start with a capital letter and my second grade students would be quick to point that out, but I feel this would be a good point to pass into a segment on types of poetic meter and when not to use syntax for impact. Each page contained two lines and that was all and in those two lines there was so much context. I would love for my students to see this and be able to practice this as well, by writing two lines that rhyme that would depict best some moment in their life. ( )