Freedom on the Menu: The Greensboro Sit-Ins: The Greensboro Sit-Ins

The civil rights movement was pivotal in our history, this should not have to be stated. However, most students learn about it only in passing, as the history curriculum in schools still tends to end just after WWII. Even treating this through picture books is better than that. This book, featuring a young girl whose socially active brother and sister participated in the sit-ins, signed people up to vote, and got arrested for their troubles, takes a good look at the Greensboro sit-ins. I like how the main character acts like a real child - she's proud of her siblings, yes, but she also wants them to stop protesting and stay home and be safe. She's eight years old, and, given the wordiness of the book, that's probably about the right age for the reader. The artwork is pretty enough, but it would have been better on a larger book. When sitting with a kid in your lap reading with the light dim for bedtime, they end up looking a bit muddled.

My boys loved this book. It was written so that kids can easily understand what sit ins meant and how to handle a situation without aggression. All parents should read this book to their kids. This book should be a required reader for all teachers.

I used this story as part of a unit that I taught to my 4th-graders. They loved it and it presented this slice of history at a level my students could understand. I loved the way the characters were portrayed - strong, calm and very family-oriented.

Begun by teenagers, the sit-ins breathed new life into the civil rights movement, sparking a decade of mass protests that eventually ushered change. I live in the same county where the sit-ins took place. I hope that Freedom on the Menu helps today's children understand segregation and that freedom had a price.

As a teacher assistant and Sunday school teacher, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I read this book to my seven and 8-year-old Sunday school class and they really enjoyed the pictures and the message given. I live in North Carolina not to far from where the sit-ins took place and it's nice to be able to read about something that has happen within your community and the positive outcome that happened. The book was very well written by Carol Weatherford not so much that only an older child could read it but I felt that even a younger child could understand the language with guidance. This book has been added to my collection for Black History month.