The Story of Ruby Bridges

The Story of Ruby Bridges
By Robert Coles
Publisher/Date:Scholastic Press 1995
# of Pages: 32
Reading Level: 2
Genre: Biography

Summary:


Young Ruby Bridges is chosen to be one of the first black children to be integrated into a white school. Many people are angry about this, and parents protest against it. Ruby has to be escorted to school by federal marshals to be protected from the mobs. When she does go to school, she is the only one there. Her teacher, Ms. Henry, has only her to teach. One morning, Mrs. Henry looked out the window and saw Ruby saying something in the crowd. When she asked Ruby what she said, Ruby told her she was praying for the people. She was asking God to forgive them for persecuting her.

Who Benefits from Reading this Book?

Those who are interested in reading about this time period, and about what it was like for the people then would benefit. It's an informational book, so anyone would learn from it. It also has religious themes. It ends with Ruby praying for the people, so I think it teaches a good lesson about love for enemies. The illustrations are also very nice, so people who like good pictures would benefit as well.

What Problems Could This Book Potentially Cause?

This book is all about the racism and about how prejudice the people were at that time. Some might find this offensive, however, because it's based on historical facts, I think it's fine. Also, as i mentioned above, this book contains religious themes. It's made clear that Ruby and her family believe in God, and they worship Him in church. It also includes Ruby's prayer at the very end, and some might be offended by that.

My Reaction:

I liked this book. As a child I wasn't a big fan of informational books at all. However, as I've grown, I've come to like them much more. I think there's a lot to learn from books like this. I hadn't ever heard about Ruby Bridges before this, so it was fun to learn more about her. I haven't read a lot about this period in history either, so I like to learn new things about it. It makes me really sad though that she was persecuted so much just for going to school. She was just doing what the government told her to, and people were just ruthless about it. However, I love the lesson it teaches about loving your enemies. Her prayer at the end is so powerful I think. I really liked this book. And the pictures are pretty.