In the segregated south, a young girl thinks that she can drink from a fountain marked "Whites Only" because she is wearing her white socks.
Guess what book was featured on ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT?
Did you guess? White Socks Only
MY 15 MINUTES OF FAME: On March 9, Friday, a few years ago, I was dozing on my couch when I heard the Entertainment Tonight person mention Malcolm in the Middle -- a show I loved -- so I woke up. Jane Kaczmarek, who plays the role of Malcolm's mother, was showing off her evening gown that she would wear to the Screen Actor's Guild awards (SAG) then the commentator said Jane had been volunteering in SAG's Bookpals Program, reading books at schools. This is a program directed by Ellen Nathan at the time. Now it is run by Jan Powell.
Books, schools, you know me, I perked up. There Jane was sitting in front of a California class holding up a book reading it to the kids. I thought, hmm, that looks familiar. And it should have. As she proceeded to hold the book up (at least three times) showing off the cover I realized in a frenzy that it was White Socks Only! Tyrone Geter's (the illustrator) little girl was standing right there on National TV on Entertainment Tonight. Needless to say that made my day!
(SMILE)
See a short trailer of White Socks Only (the Movie) Directed and produced by Academy Award winner, Barbara Bryant.
To purchase contact PhoenixLearninggroup.com
WHAT REVIEWERS SAY ABOUT WHITE SOCKS ONLY:
“ A wonderful, touching story of a little girl who goes to town by herself to see if it is really possible to fry an egg on the sidewalk on a hot day, and ends up striking a blow against bigotry … Terrific illustrations perfectly complement the well-written story.” —PICK OF THE LISTS, American Bookseller
“Eventually, in places like this, courage would transcend hate; this extraordinary book helps us and our children, to understand how
that transformation came to be. The most outstanding title for 1996.” — Notable Books for Children, Smithsonian Magazine
“… the book works as an effective portrayal of a child’s innocence
and her awakening to racism.” — Booklist
Selected for Close the Book on Hate—Anti Defamation League &
Barnes & Noble Summer Reading Campaign
White Socks Only, Educational Film, starring Lynn Hamilton
(Fred Sanford’s girl friend on Sanford & Sons) Produced by
Academy Award Winner Barbara Bryant
Also selected by Screen Actor’s Guild, Book Pals national campaign, story read by Actress Amber Tamblyn, of Joan of Arcadia and Sisters of the Traveling Pants
Teachers & Librarians in Madison Wisconson: “Students who met Ms. Coleman more than three years ago still talk about her visit regularly.”
Teacher at Gaulledet University: “Ms. Coleman’s book, White Socks Only, transcends race, gender and culture and my students relate it to their own experience even in third grade.”
(Names of people quoted can be provided upon request.)