The Drinking Gourd by: F.N. Monjo

Genre: Historical Fiction

Publisher: Harper and Row

Copyright Date: 1970

Number of Pages: 62

Reading Level: 4-8

Summary:

Tommy Fuller was sitting at church one day and he was bored. In those times, they went to church all day long. All the kids sat on the balcony while the adults sat in the congregation. Tommy had an apple and a string ans so he tied the apple to the string and three it out the window to where a bunch of geese were sitting. One goose latched on and Tommy pulled up. He was fishing for geese! The goose made a horrible racket and Tommy was sent home. He was told to go and wait in his room but he went to the barn instead. He talked to the horses a bit and then decided to jump off of the loft into the hay stacks. When he got to the top of the loft he heard a baby crying. He thought that was odd... Then there was a mans voice that said, "You won't take us alive!" Tommy was scared. Then he saw that it was a slave family hiding in the loft. Apparently this barn was a checkpoint on the underground railroad and his dad was involved in helping slaves escape. His dad got home and explained the situation. Then they set off to take this family to their next checkpoint. They were making their way to Canada so they could be free. The son of the black man explained to Tommy that if a slave wanted to be free all they would have to do is follow the drinking gourd, which Tommy knew as the big dipper. The last star on the drinking gourd pointed north so they just had to keep following it. Tommy's dad hid the family under some hay in the back of the horse trailer and they set off. Once they got to their destination on the bank of the river, his dad set off to find the boat and Tommy sat in the wagon. All of the sudden a "hunting party" arrived in search for the exact family that was in the back of their trailer! He knew the men because they were a part of the congregation at church. They asked him about the goose fishing and they all had a good laugh. They said it was procedure to check all the wagons. Tommy came up with a story. He said that he was afraid he's get a spanking when his dad got home so he took off in the trailer to go fishing. He said that he was a runaway but not the one they were looking for. They believed him and told him to run along home. He said ok! Shortly after that, his dad came for the family and he took them across the river in the boat. When his dad got home that night he explained that he believed in obeying the law but not when it came to people's lives. Slavery was wrong and he would do everything in his power to fight it.

Who would benefit from reading this book/ Who would I recommend this book to?

This is a good book to teach when talking about the underground railroad and slavery. I would recommend this to teachers who plan on teaching that part of history.

What problems/conflicts could this book potentially cause?

None that I know of.

My Reaction:

This is a simple book that teaches a great part of history. This teaches a valuable lesson about laws. I like the end when the dad is talking to Tommy and he tells him he is a law abiding citizen but sometimes it takes a moral judgement to determine what is right and wrong rather than just following the law blindly. I liked the story line and i would use this book if I ever have to teach about slavery.