Gillian Engberg (Booklist, Feb. 15, 2001 (Vol. 97, No. 12))
John Henry Waddell is my best friend," begins the narrator of this story, set during a summer of desegregation in the South. John Henry is black and the narrator is white, so the boys swim together at the creek, rather than at the whites-only town pool, and the narrator buys the ice-cream at the segregated store. When new laws mandate that the pool, and everything else, must desegregate, the boys rejoice, until the town fills the pool with tar in protest and the narrator tries to see this town, "through John Henry's eyes." The boy's voice, presented in punchy, almost poetic sentences, feels overly romanticized, even contrived in places. It's the illustrations that stun. In vibrantly colored, broad strokes, Lagarrigue, who illustrated Nikki Grimes' My Man Blue (1999), paints riveting portraits of the boys, particularly of John Henry, that greatly increase the story's emotional power. Beautiful work by an illustrator to watch. Category: Books for the Young--Fiction. 2001, Atheneum, $16. Ages 5-8.

Marilyn Courtot (Children's Literature)
It is a typical day at Bear's house until Tutter asks Bear what love is. Bear explains by giving examples. All seems to be going smoothly until Ojo and Tutter have a falling out. Tutter accidentally breaks Ojo's toy airplane. Both are determined not to say I am sorry, but because they love each other they finally do make up. The message is about the various forms of love and how loving another person allows us to forgive transgressions. Based on a teleplay by Mitchell Krigman. 2000, Simon Spotlight/Simon & Schuster, $5.99. Ages 3 mo. to 4.

Ken Marantz and Sylvia Marantz (Children's Literature)
The turmoil in the southern United States that followed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 is made more understandable to youngsters today through the relationship depicted here between two friends, one black and one white. Our young white narrator shares wonderful times with John Henry, son of his mother's household helper. But there are places they cannot go together. When they hear about the new law, they eagerly look forward to swimming together in the previously restricted city pool, but are shocked to find it being filled with tar rather than allowing blacks to use it. The unfairness of all the restrictions overwhelms the friends. At the end, they decide to defy one tradition and buy and eat an ice pop together. We wonder whether they ever make it. Lagarrigue's vision, his visual narrative, is unfolded in a sequence of impressions. These textured pictures are generated from the vital energy of the two protagonists. There's just enough detail to set the stage for the melodramatic events. The scenes exude the joy of the friends, their puzzlement and finally, their joint defiance. In the final scene they march together through a dark doorway, a metaphor for those all must still pass through. The author fills in more factual background, adding that it is fiction but "based on real events" and feelings she can recall from her Alabama childhood. 2001, An Anne Schwartz Book/Atheneum Books for Young Readers, $16.00. Ages 4 to 8.

Marilyn Courtot (Children's Literature)
Two boys, one black and one white, are friends, but they live in a place and time when the races don't mix. Then they learn that the laws have changed and all that was denied--swimming in the town pool, entering the grocery store from the front door, and sitting together at a movie can happen. When the two dash off to the pool they learn that some would rather deny access to all than have the races mix. The pain and injustice of segregation are palpable in both the text and pictures, but the book ends on a more optimistic note with the boys, arms linked, walking in through the front door of the store. While the story was effective, it seemed inconsistent. At the beginning of the book the age of the boys seems younger than the succeeding activities and events would suggest. Their ability to go off to swimming unsupervised and the fact that John Henry's brother was part of the crew at the finale seemed to be a bit of a stretch. 2001, Atheneum, $16.00. Ages 4 to 8.

Sue Corbett (Miami Herald) (Children's Literature)
Deborah Wiles’ Freedom Summer is an excellent way to start a discussion about how basic the stakes were just forty-odd years ago. Two boys, one the color of “browned butter,” the other the shade of “pale moths,” share summer days while one’s mother works for the other’s family. It’s 1964 and they’re excited when a “new law” means the swimming pool will now be open to all kids, no matter what color their skin. So imagine their confusion--and anger--when they show up to swim--and the pool is being filled in with asphalt, a choice some towns made when civil rights legislation forced them to integrate facilities or close them to everyone. The atmospheric paintings by Jerome Lagarrigue reinforce the idyllic tone of the Wiles’ story, making the truth all the more shattering: How could something as simple and blissful as a cool swim on a hot day get ruined by hate? 2005 (orig. 2001), Aladdin, $16.95 and $6.99. Ages 5 to 10.

Susie Wilde (Children's Literature)
A great introductory step for parents and teachers to help children become writers is to examine the work of others. There are a slew of personal narrative picture books to help children understand this genre. Freedom Summer is one. It tells of two boys who are best friends. John Henry is black and Joe is white, and though they love the same things, segregation laws prevent them from doing everything together. They have compensated. Instead of going to the town pool, they dam a creek where they "jump in, wearing only our skins." Descriptions and a strong voice draw the reader into the kind of caring that builds as the boys anticipate the end of the law that has divided them. On the morning that desegregation goes into effect, the two boys leave for the clear waters of the town pool, taking John Henry's lucky coin to dive for. When they arrive, they discover workers have filled the pool with "hot spongy tar." Joe, wanting to shift the mood, suggests an ice pop that comes from a store John Henry has never entered. Joe hands his friend a nickel, but John Henry shakes his head and replies, "I got my own" and the boys walk into the store together. Lyricism and feelings will help children relate, better understand another era and discover the power of a personal narrative. 2001, Atheneum, $16.00. Ages 7 to 10.

Kirkus (Kirkus Reviews, January 1, 2001 (Vol. 69, No. 1))
Wiles draws on memories of her childhood summers in Mississippi in her first picture book, a slice-of-life story about Joe, a Caucasian boy, and his best friend, John Henry, an African-American boy whose mother works as a housekeeper for Joe's family. The setting is the Deep South in the summer of 1964, the period called Freedom Summer for its wide-ranging social changes following passage of the Civil Rights Act. Joe and John Henry have spent all their summers together, working around the rampant prejudice of the era and maintaining their friendship even though they can't swim in the public pool together or walk into the local store to buy a pair of ice pops. When the new law takes effect, the boys race together to the public pool only to find it being filled in with asphalt by city workers. John Henry's hurt and shame ring true in the text, but Joe's precocious understanding of the situation outstrips his age. ("I want to see this town with John Henry's eyes.") An author's note at the beginning of the book describes her experiences and the atmosphere in her own hometown during this era, when some white business owners preferred to close down rather than open their doors to African-Americans. Younger children will need this background explanation to understand the story's underlying layers of meaning, or the filling-in of the swimming pool will seem like a mindless bureaucratic blunder rather than concrete prejudice in action. Teachers and parents could use this book as a quiet but powerful introduction to the prejudice experienced by many Americans, and of course the book is a natural to pair with the story of another, more-famous John Henry. Vibrant full-page paintings by talented French-born artist Lagarrigue capture both the palpable heat of southern summer days and the warmth of the boys' friendship. 2001, Atheneum, $16.00. Category: Picture book. Ages 6 to 12. Starred Review. © 2001 Kirkus Reviews/VNU eMedia, Inc. All rights reserved.

Kate McDowell (The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, February 2001 (Vol. 54, No. 6))
Set in the summer of 1964 in the American south, this picture book presents two best friends, one black and one white, who come up against the lingering legacy of racism despite the mandates of the new Civil Rights Act. Joe is the son of a middle-class white family, and his best friend John Henry is the son of the black housekeeper who works for Joe's mother. Told from Joe's perspective, the narrative describes the summertime pleasures of friendship, from swimming in the creek to eating ice pops that Joe buys for them both, since John Henry is not allowed in the general store. One night at dinner, Joe's father announces that the town pool will be opening to everyone, regardless of skin color, the following morning. The two boys race to the pool in the morning only to find that county dump trucks are filling the pool with asphalt. Despite their disappointment, and despite the prohibition on doing so, the boys decide to buy ice pops at the general store together. The childish ease with which the two boys walk into the store is jarringly at odds with not only the detailed descriptions of racist restrictions throughout the text but also with the scene just before, showing that whites in the town were willing to destroy the town pool rather than include black people. Figures in the illustrations are blocky, with moments of awkward drafting, and the use of blurred oil paints adds a nostalgic softness that, along with sentimental moments in the text, makes this story seem more filtered through adult memories than told from a child's perspective. This joins other recent historical fiction picture books about similar experiences of children challenging segregation (Woodson's The Other Side, this month's Big Picture, Coleman's White Socks Only, 4/96), and despite its message-driven earnestness, it may inspire valuable discussions about race, racism, and the ways that young people try to change the world around them. Review Code: Ad -- Additional book of acceptable quality for collections needing more material in the area. (c) Copyright 2001, The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois. 2001, Schwartz/Atheneum, 32p, $16.00. Ages 5-8 yrs.

Dawn Cobb (The Lorgnette - Heart of Texas Reviews (Vol. 14, No. 2))
This touching story of friendship between two boys takes place in the South during the summer of 1964. Joe and John Henry, who are of different colors, see beyond their obvious differences and focus on their similarities. The author does an excellent job of portraying the social injustices and the boys' reactions to the various situations. This book will likely inspire students to ask many difficult questions about our nation's past. Fiction. Grades PreK-3. 2001, Anne Schwartz/Atheneum, Unpaged, $16.00. Ages 3 to 9.