Seeds of Freedom: The Peaceful Integration of Huntsville, Alabama by Hester Bass, illustrated by E. B. Lewis

Violence was a large part of the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s.  However in Huntsville, Alabama something quite different happened, quietly and successfully.  They managed through cooperation, quiet civil disobedience, and courage to stand up for what was right for all members of their community.  There were lunchroom protests where young black people sat at the counters they were not allowed to eat at.  There were marches with signs.  There were arrests, even one of a mother with an infant that gained national news. There were lovely protests like refusing to purchase new clothes for Easter and instead dressing in blue jeans to deny some stores their business. There were balloons with messages of coming together even as a segregationist ran for governor. There were brave children who attended schools where they were the only people of color. Yet it all happened in a community of support and with no violence at all.

Bass emphasizes throughout her book that there were challenges in the society and reasons for protest.  Time and again though just as the reader thinks things will be more rough and confrontational, it abates and progress is made. Her use of details from the other cities in Alabama as well as the national Civil Rights Movement will show children how violent the struggles often were. It is against that backdrop that the progress in Huntsville really shines.

Lewis’s paintings also shine.  He captures the strength and determination of those working for their civil rights.  On each page there is hope from the children reaching to the sky with their balloons to the one black child in the class and his smile.  It all captures both the solemnity of the struggle and the power of achieving change.

Beautifully told and illustrated, this nonfiction picture book offers a compelling story about a community’s willingness to change without violence.  Appropriate for ages 7-10.

Reviewed from library copy.