A Sweet Smell of Roses

by Angela Johnson

Other authorsEric Velazquez (Illustrator)
Paperback, 2007

Description

A stirring yet jubilant glimpse of the youth involvement that played an invaluable role in the Civil Rights movement. There's a sweet, sweet smell in the air as two young girls sneak out of their house, down the street, and across town to where men and women are gathered, ready to march for freedom and justice. Inspired by the countless young people who took a stand against the forces of injustice, two Coretta Scott King Honorees, Angela Johnson and Eric Velasquez, offer a stirring yet jubilant glimpse of the youth involvement that played an invaluable role in the Civil Rights movement.

Status

Available

Call number

813.54

Publication

Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers (2007), Edition: Reprint, 32 pages

User reviews

LibraryThing member meastwold
This is a wonderful historical fiction book. This book is set back during the civil rights movement. This wonderful story takes a unique twist to show the involvement of the youth at this time.
LibraryThing member umsoechildlit
This story is about two African American sisters who attend a civil rights march where they hear Martin Luther King Jr. speak and return home to tell their mother about the day's events. All of the illustrations in this picture story book are done in black and white with red accents. For example,
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on the cover, the American flag is accented in red. The pictures are very detailed and show emotion. They also work well with the text, at times adding more detail to the story. An interesting feature of the text is the bold quotes from the civil rights movement. This makes it stand out from the rest of the text. This story brings the civil rights movement to a more personal level for children by having a child narrator. It puts the reader in the shoes of a child during the sixties.
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LibraryThing member petajaye
A Sweet Smell of Roses tells the story of two young girls who sneak out of their home to join the freedom marchers gathering downtown. The story and larger than life illustrations are meant to be a tribute to the boys and girls who participated in the quest for freedom and justice.
LibraryThing member kimpiddington
The black and white pencil drawings in this book steal the scene!
LibraryThing member Pangle
Minnie and her sister sneak past their Mama's door, pass through the sweet smell of roses that fills the air after a nighttime rain, and walk downtown...there, everybody waits to march. As the young girls stand in a crowd of people who are marching, clapping and singing for freedom, they smell the
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sweet smell of roses. Minnie and her sister listen to Dr. King speak about peace and freedom and they join the songs of love and nonviolence. They then run home to find their Mama waiting with a worried face that soon turns to a smile after they wrap themselves in her arms. As they tell their Mama about the march, they smell that sweet smell of roses throughout the house.
The black and white sketched illustrations are a powerful touch to this moving story. As you read the story and follow the young girls through the sketches, your eyes are drawn to a flash of red on every page: on a teddy bear's bow, the American flag, or the roses in the window that smell so sweet, the roses that smell like freedom.
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LibraryThing member michelleraphael
Angela Johnson writes an easy book about the civil rights movement. But unlike most major civil right pieces, this story is told in the view of a young child. The story is brief but powerful.
LibraryThing member JTNguyen
This book is about two young girls sneaking out of their home to join the march for freedom and justice led by Dr. King. It gives an insight to the Civil Rights movement.
LibraryThing member akrause
"A Sweet Smell of Roses" is a great story for young readers about the civil rights movement. It's about two sisters who sneak out of their house to join a march for equality and freedom led by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Children will see through the eyes of the two young girls what it was like to
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see a nation divided and to see those who stood up for what they believed in. This book is a great way to discuss our country's history and to discuss terms such as equality, freedom, and segregation. The illustrations in this book would also be a good way to lead a discussion by asking questions such as "What is the significance of the color red?"
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LibraryThing member AbigailAdams26
Although many assume that politics is an adult affair, the reality is that children are often intimately concerned with political matters, both because they are effected by them, and because they are interested in them. Certainly, as the daughter of politically aware and active parents, I myself
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grew up surrounded by discussions of everything from the latest elections to the controversies surrounding my father's organization to help the homeless in our area (very unpopular with our mayor, apparently). I vividly recall, moreover, a lunchtime conversation I once had with a co-worker - an African-American woman originally from Georgia - about how she snuck out of her house, as a young girl, and defied her fearful mother's prohibition on her attending a local Civil Rights event, in order to hear Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. speak. "I just had to go," she told me, "there was a feeling in me, that I had to be there."

I was strongly reminded of that lunchtime discussion, and of my own childhood and adolescent experiences (my very first protest march, at age twelve, was called by the NAACP), by A Sweet Smell of Roses, a picture-book tribute to the many unnamed children who participated in the Civil Rights Movement. A simple text follows the narrator and her younger sister Minnie as they slip out of their home, in order to participate in a march led by King, while the black and white illustrations - relived in each scene by one red element, be it the flag, or a teddy-bear's ribbon - beautifully capture each moment of the story. An outstanding book, one which captures the child's role in an important movement in American history, this is also just a beautiful work of art. The illustrations, done by Eric Velasquez in charcoal, are simple stunning! Highly recommended, to all child activists out there (and there are many of them!), and to young readers interested in the Civil Rights Movement, and the role of children in that movement.
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LibraryThing member matthewbloome
This is definitely a great historical book on the experience of children in the Civil Rights Movement. I was very impressed. This, like many other books on this topic would be best suited for an audience whose understanding of metaphor and symbolism was well-developed simply because there is so
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much there. The text and the illustrations both are of the highest calibur. I was very impressed.
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LibraryThing member ghimbert
This is a powerful story about the civil rights movement told through the eyes of children. It is so often that political issues are dealt with solely by adults, but in the case of the Civil Rights Movement children were affected just as much. This is also a good book to introduce the idea of
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symbolism in that what is symbolized by the color red that is shown throughout the book. It is the only color, everything else is black and white.
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LibraryThing member Mdierd1
A Sweet Smell of Roses
By Angela Johnson (2007)

I liked A Sweet Smell of Roses by Angela Johnson for three reasons. First, I liked the illustrations in the book. Specifically, Velasquex’s brilliant pencil work illuminates the emotions of the characters in the book. Also, I liked how Velasquex
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incorporated a touch of red in his drawings. For instance, the ribbon tied the young girl’s bear is colored red, the American flag is colored red, and the roses are colored red. The red highlights the significance of the objects. Second, I liked how Dr. Martin Luther King was mentioned in the book. Dr. Martin Luther King was an important person during the Civil Rights movement, so it is neat how Johnson introduces him to readers. Lastly, I liked how excited the sisters were to participate in the march. Essentially, they were marching for their rights. Over, the “big idea” of A Sweet Smell of Roses is to capture the heart of the Civil Rights movement. Johnson does a great job of introducing the Civil Rights movement to young readers in a way they will understand and enjoy.
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LibraryThing member cporte8
One aspect of this book that I liked was the fact that they showed the red ribbon that the bear wore. I believe the reason that they only showed the color of the ribbon is because it is one of the colors of the american flag and the color of the roses that they smell at the beginning and end of the
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story. The color red might be a color that represents freedom. I also liked the detail that they used to draw the characters. For example, when they drew Dr. King giving a speech you can see the seriousness and the power that he uses when he gives his speech.
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LibraryThing member Madison94
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It was about the civil rights movement and the illustrations in this book were more interesting than most of the other books I have seen. I loved how all the drawings were drawn in black and white and with pencil. It aided in understanding the story as a whole due to
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the seriousness of the illustrations. The black and white had a more serious feel to the story than color would. I also loved how the quotes were in bold and was more noticeable than the rest of the story. It just emphasized what was important in the story. The overall meaning of this story is fighting for freedom and equality. We need to treat others how we want to be treated. No one should be oppressed by peers. The civil rights were an important part in history and this book really explains it well.
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LibraryThing member Kassidy_Maxie
This book does a beautiful job of summing up the events of the civil rights movement and a girl's experience as a child of a major contributor to Dr. King's efforts and the movement as a whole.
LibraryThing member rpazmino-calligan
This is a sweet book about the civil rights movement. The man character and her sister, Minnie, sneak out to see Martin Luther King Jr. speak and to join in protests and marches. In every place where there is an instance or thought of equality and peace, the author acknowledges the sweet smell of
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roses, synonymous, I believe, with equality, peace, and comfort. I really liked the illustrations as well.
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Language

Original language

English

ISBN

1416953612 / 9781416953616
Page: 0.3135 seconds