Bell Rang

Description: A young slave girl witnesses the heartbreak and hopefulness of her family and their plantation community when her brother escapes for freedom in this brilliantly conceived picture book by Coretta Scott King Award winner Ransome. Full color.

Brief description: James E. Ransome's Fighting with Love: The Legacy of John Lewis was called "a warm tribute" by Kirkus Reviews and "highly recommended" by School Library Journal, both in starred reviews. His highly acclaimed illustrations for Before She Was Harriet received the Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor. His other award-winning titles include the Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award Honor Book The Bell Rang, Coretta Scott King Author Award Honor Book Uncle Jed's Barbershop, Reading Rainbow Book Sweet Clara and the Freedom Quilt, and Let My People Go, winner of the NAACP Image Award. James is also a recipient of the ALA Children's Literature Legacy Award. He is on the faculty at the School of Visual Arts in the MFA Illustration Visual Essay program. James frequently collaborates with his wife, author Lesa Cline-Ransome. They live in New York's Hudson Valley region with their family. Visit James at JamesRansome.com.

Review Quotes: With a text at once simple, rhythmic, and heartbreaking, Ransome conveys for a very young audience the grinding treadmill of slave labor and the impetus to leave loved ones for a chance at freedom.--BCCB