Unspoken: A Story From the Underground Railroad

This powerful story, told entirely through Henry Cole's gorgeously detailed pencil artwork, is not a history of the Underground Railroad so much as a brief and very personal vignette from that period of history. Opening as a young farm girl leads the family cow toward the barn, and a troupe of

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Confederate soldiers is riding past, Unspoken follows the girl as she discovers an unseen stranger hiding in the stored corn, and begins to help him (or her), by providing food and keeping his secret. When a group of bounty-hunters eventually arrives, the girl watches them from her secret hiding place before making her way to the barn, where she discovers that the runaway slave she has been sheltering has moved on, but has left behind a beautiful gift for her.

Although I would agree with those reviewers who have maintained that this is not a suitable book for explaining the Underground Railroad to younger children, I do think it would make an excellent supplemental title, in the study of the period. True, there is nothing in the visual narrative that identifies the fugitive - we never see him or her (it's interesting to note that so many people assume it is a he), and although there are visual clues that he/she is a slave, it is not explicitly depicted - but then, this struck me less as a didactic tale about the escape from slavery, and more as a depiction of one girl's emotional journey, as she empathizes with the runaway, and comes to his aid. In that sense, it is a triumph, as Cole's artwork brilliantly captures the girl's emotional state, her fear and watchfulness in particular. Does this story stand very well on its own, with little or no knowledge of the Underground Railroad? No. Will it function as a gateway to thinking about the lived experiences of people involved in the Underground Railroad, for young readers who already know a little bit about the topic? Absolutely!

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I enjoyed Unspoken for numerous reasons. I'm not too familiar with books that don't have words. I know they exist, but I haven't had the chance to read many. I was kinda unsure about how I felt towards them, but since being introduced to more through my literacy class and having the chance to read

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some on my own, I've really grown to like them. In this one, the storyline is pretty obvious and easily understood, but it is up to the reader to convey how intense the emotions are behind the characters. It's a great story for students to relate to and to keep in theme with making a difference. I also liked the illustrator's choice of medium. While other stories use color to represent certain feelings or to draw the readers attention to details, the simple, grayscale, pencil-drawn look sets the tone and allows the reader to focus on everything in the pictures equally.

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Media: Pencil on charcoal paper

Genre Critique (Historical Fiction): This is a good example of historical fiction. The plot of the story revolves around historical events. In this case the American Civil War. The story told is not a true one, but one that could have easily taken place.

Setting

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Critique: Because this is a wordless picture book the reader relies heavily on the pictures to tell the story. The setting is integral to this book, especially because it is historical fiction. If we did not know that the setting was on a farm during the Civil War the plot wold make little sense.

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This wordless book conveyed so much intense feelings on top of the story line. The girl's eyes were full of worry and kindness and the family's eyes were often, symbolizing their willingness to ignore that they knew about the person hiding in their shed. This story is a wonderful way to teach young

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children about this important part of our history. This is also a great way to get students writing stories using these pictures as guides. This book has a theme of compassion and of collective support.

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Stunning and remarkable. Wonderful possiblities for discussion and writing.

A lovely wordless picture book told through luminously detailed illustrations reminiscent of Brian Selznick. Cole's note at the end sheds light on how he came up with the idea for the story, and I enjoyed hearing that so much of his inspiration came from growing up in Loudoun County, VA, a hop and

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a skip from where we live. Younger children may have a hard time following the story, especially since the escaped slave is not obvious in the illustrations. But what a great conversation starter and story inspirer for grades 3 - 6.

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There are no words at all in this book, except on the back cover. In fact, if it were not for the subtitle, one might not know at all that this book is set in the South during the Civil War, at a farm that may or may not be part of the “official” Underground Railroad. (The opening picture

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spread shows a quilt hung outside the barn, suggesting that this homestead was designated by its owners as a safe haven.)

No drawings show slaves, or any blacks at all. The story is entirely focused on the young girl who lives at the farm and who takes food to a fugitive she finds hiding in the cornstalks. (All we ever see of this fugitive is one eye peeping out.)

I think that, without adult guidance, all that younger readers may see happening is that there is somebody hiding in this young girl’s barn, and the girl brings whoever it is food, and then the person leaves her a corn-husk doll in gratitude.

Several elements of this book make it extraordinary. For one thing, the lack of any text requires much more reader participation than the usual book, and will undoubtedly inspire further investigation by readers.

But the biggest standout feature of this book is the remarkable atmosphere created by the pencil and paper drawings by Cole, reminiscent of the style of Brian Selznick. These illustrations invest the story with a drama and tension that may not have been evident had language “normalized” what was happening. And the emotions clearly expressed by the drawings are incredible.

Discussion: Is the lack of information in this book a good thing or a bad thing? It doesn’t tell you anything about why a person might legitimately be hiding from authorities. It implies, however, that the fugitive is a good person. Is the person being sought justly or unjustly? The text doesn’t say. And a young reader, even upon learning that the fugitive is probably someone trying to escape slavery, may extrapolate mentally to think that anyone sneaking around and hiding out from the law could be good. This is not necessarily a productive message for young kids; what may be courageous under some circumstances could be extremely harmful in others.

So while I think this book is just outstanding, I definitely would recommend it be read along with an adult who explains the nuances of the story from a historical perspective.

Evaluation: From an artistic standpoint, I think this book is not to be missed!

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Summary:
Unspoken is a book without words, but with great illustrations. This book paints pictures of an experience of the underground rail road. A little girl saw a person, fed that person and never told that a person had been there. As a sign of gratitude that person left the little girl a corn

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husk doll. That person never returned again.

Personal Reaction:
The setting really clarified the conflict in this book. The illustrations allowed the reader to experience the mood of this story. The little girls was playing a suddenly saw a person unfamiliar to her. A fear came over her maybe but not enough to tell. The little girl showed she cared by not telling and providing food for this stranger. The stranger symbolized his gratitude by making the little girl a corn husk doll. This story is powerful, such a huge deed for a child.

Extension Ideas:
1. Students will be challenged to make their own corn husk dolls.

2. Students will be challenged to create their own unspoken book to allow freedom of expression through illustration.

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This would be a great book for ELL students and stuggelling readers as well as help in the writing process

Summary: During the time of the Underground Railroad, a young girl is startled by something in the storage shed, it was a person, a slave, and the girl began to care for the person in the barn by leaving food in the shed. Then the slave left the shed to continue north. Before the slave heads north,

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he/she creates a corn husk doll.

Personal Reaction: Great illustrations, Loved the story

Classroom Extensions: (1) Creative writing: work together to write a story (2) Make corn husk dolls

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This book will take your breath away - both the storyline and the illustrations are extremely powerful and moving. A must read!

Summary: This story is about a young girl who lives on a farm. One day she's out doing her chores when she hears something in the hay out in the barn. That night she snuck food out for them and ran back to the house. She did this for awhile until men on horses came in searched for a missing slave.

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As a token of thanks the slave left the little girl a play doll.

Personal Reaction: I thought this book was bitter sweet. I hated the fact that the slaves were trying to hide and get away, but I thought it was nice when the little girl tried to help them. This book in my opinion can be a good teaching tool and should be added to your book collection.

Classroom Extension Ideas:
1) Let the class create a doll just like they did in the book.

2) Ask the class if they had a chance to change the story how would it end.

3) Let the class think of other obsticles that the little girl might have faced during that time period.

4) Have the class draw additional scenes to add on to the story.

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I really love this book. The first reason I love this book is because it tells an amazing story with absolutely no words. The entire book is just pictures.

The second reason I really like this book is because the illustrations are so strong you don't need words to understand. For example on one

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page you can see a picture of men riding around with wanted signs and they are looking for someone. On the next page you can see the little girl peeking out and looking with a scared look on her face. She was afraid they would find the people they were hiding.

The main idea of this book is to share a story about what life was like for runaway slaves and the people that hid them.

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The beautiful pencil illustrations in this book make words unnecessary. What I like is that it is a different kind of story being told about that time in history. Not of the war or violence or even the underground railroad itself with Harriet Tubman. It is about the small things that some people

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did to help the escaped slaves like hide them in farmhouses and give them food and provide safe passage. The author's note at the end ties the story together well.

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A young girl on a farm in Virginia helps a runaway slave hiding in her barn. Wordless.

Unspoken is an exceptional and wordless book by Henry Cole. The book's illustrations explore two characters during the Civil War. The main character stumbles across a runaway slave in her family's barn. Instead of informing her family, she brings the runaway food each day until the runaway leaves

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her with a grateful gift. This story definitely illustrates the power of courage and understanding in an era where racism was prevalent.

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The book had no written story it only had illustrations. This was done on purpose so that the readers can write their own story to the drawing. Even though each person can write a different story, it would all be the same because the drawings were powerful enough to tell a story without words. It

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followed a little girl whose family farm was used to help slaves escape the south. Through her own strength, she gave food to the runaway slaves at night and remained calm when the Confederate soldiers came. The book is powerful to catch the attention of all age group.

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This book have beautiful picture. If is is a true work of art. It is an art style to the pen

With lush pencil illustrations, siepa like in color, this is told without words. It is a lovely story of a young girl who finds a runaway slave in the family corn crib. She makes a brave decision to help the slave by pilfering food from the house. She tells no one what she is doing.

This is a story

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of courage and a young person who does what is the right thing to do. Realizing that faith must be put into action, she helps knowing that there is a bounty on the head of the slave, and great harm could come to her if she was caught aiding a run away slave.

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Summary: Unspoken is about a young girl who comes across a runaway slave on her family’s farm. She sneaks food out to him, and when soldier’s come looking, she is silent, and he thanks her with a doll. It is told completely in pictures, with no words.

Personal Reaction: This was a cute, quick

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read. The underlying story was sad, of course, being about slavery. But the girl’s selflessness in keeping the young slave a secret, and bringing him food, was uplifting.

Classroom Extensions:
1. Teach kids more about the Underground Railroad. Have them talk about what they would do in that situation.

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Drawn with a pencil on charcoal paper this wordless picture book is amazing. I was afraid to touch the pages for fear that I might smudge the artwork. This story does not need words to express the kindness that both children show towards each other. The reader can see fear and bravery in these

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pictures, truly beautiful work.

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Summary: This wordless book is about a little girl during the civil war, who one day while getting eggs from the hen house hears a noise in the corn field. She doesn't see anyone, but she knows someone is there. and she is afraid. At night she goes back to the hen house, taking with her a piece of

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bread. Each day she is taking food. One day some men comes to her house to let her family know that a slave has ran away, and that there is a reward for him. At night when she goes back to the hen house she finds a rag doll on the floor, and the runaway slave gone.
Personal reaction: I really liked this book. Even though it is wordless it's very expressive and exciting.
Extension: I would use this book in my classroom to tell this story, as well as asking my students to help in telling a story from the pictures. I think it would be fun to hear what they would come up with.

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In my opinion, this is a wonderful book. I personally really loved the illustrations. All the illustrations are pencil drawn with an extreme amount of detail. The illustrations really help express the lifestyle of the characters. One of the illustrations is of a star patterned blanket that is

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hanging over a fence. I love how the author tells the story through these illustrations.
I also love the story itself. This story really expresses the struggles during this time period that many young readers may not know about. The main message of this story is to share the events that took place during the Civil War in dealing with the underground railroad.

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Response - This is a powerful wordless picture book. It teaches humanity and bravery.

Curricular connection - unit on American History and the Civil War or rights and responsibilities