Unspoken: A Story from the Underground Railroad

Title: Unspoken: A Story from the Underground Railroad
Author: Henry Cole
Illustrations: Henry Cole
Published: Cole. H. (2012). Unspoken: A story from the underground railroad. New York: Scholastic Press.
Themes: wordless, courage, bravery, friendship, historical fiction, civil war, underground railroad, safe houses

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I am a historical fiction junkie. Mix that together with a wordless book and you've got me hooked! I cannot express enough how much I LOVE this book! Seriously, I don't know if I've ever seen a more breathtaking book in my life; Henry Cole has created a masterpiece. I'm actually a little sad that this book did not win the Caldecott Medal (although This is Not My Hat is pretty great as well).

This book focuses on a young girl at the time of the civil war. One day when she goes to collect eggs from the barn, she gets a lingering suspicion that she's not in there alone. This book focuses around the pivotal question "what would you do if you had the chance to help a person find freedom?" 

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Classroom Ideas:
- Inference/prediction, have students talk about what they think is happening in the pictures. Have students make predictions about what they think will be on the next page? What will happen to the characters next? What clues are in the picture that tell us what is happening in the story?
- Have students pick one page in the book and write a descriptive paragraph explaining what is happening in the illustration.
- Have students create a character web on the main character - what does the author reveal to us about the young girl through the pictures?
- Looking at the pictures, can you figure out what the mood of the story is?
- Read the Author's Note presented on the back page. Discuss the courage and bravery of both of the young characters in the book.
- Have students reflect on the question "what would you do if you had the chance to help a person find freedom?" 
- Have students create a visual journal (half pictures, half words) about what they think will happen after the last page of the book. What will happen to the two characters? 

  
I just want to leave you with a section from the Author's Note:

"I wanted to make this a wordless book. The two main characters in the story are both brave, have a strong bond, and communicate with great depth. Yet, both are silent. They speak without words. Because I made only the pictures, I'm hoping that you will write the words and make this story your own - filling in all the has been unspoken." (Henry Cole) 

Pick up a wordless book today!