Blacksmith's Song

by Elizabeth Van Steenwyk, Anna Rich (Illustrator)

Overview

The son of an enslaved blacksmith learns that his father is using the rhythm of his hammering to communicate with travelers on the Underground Railroad.

“A plausible, powerful vision of ingenuity and daring in action.” ―Publishers Weekly

When Pa falls ill, it’s up to his son to help others along the journey―and also lead his family’s escape.

Pa works hard as a blacksmith. But he’s got another important job to do as well: using his anvil to pound out the traveling rhythm―a message to travelers on the Underground Railroad. His son wants to help, but Pa keeps putting him off. Then one day, Pa falls ill, and the boy has to take over.

A little-known piece of history comes to life in Elizabeth Van Steenwyk’s absorbing, fictional story, exquisitely illustrated by Anna Rich. Ripe with themes of bravery, community, family, freedom, and hope, the award-winning book is perfect for Black and Civil War-era history units.

Awards:

Best Children’s Books of the Year (Starred) —Bank Street College of Education
Parents’ Choice Recommended Award —Parents’ Choice Foundation
Paterson Prize for Books for Young People (Grades 4-6) —The Poetry Center at Passaic County Community College
Kansas State Reading Circle Recommended Reading List (Intermediate)―Kansas National Education Association

Also by Elizabeth Van Steenwyk:
First Dog Fala

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781561455805
Publisher:	Peachtree Publishing Company
Publication date:	02/01/2018
Pages:	32
Product dimensions:	9.40(w) x 10.50(h) x 0.50(d)
Age Range:	6 - 10 Years

About the Author

Elizabeth Van Steenwyk is the award-winning author of more than seventy published books for young people. After graduating from Knox College, she went on to spend ten years writing for radio and television with a concentration on children’s programming. She lives in California.

Anna Rich says her art career began in kindergarten. She much preferred coloring and drawing to her other class work. She received her BFA from Rhode Island School of Design, and is an active member of the New York Chapter of the Graphic Artists Guild.

Editorial Reviews

11/27/2017
An enslaved nine-year-old boy narrates this tense fictional story about the Underground Railroad. His father, the plantation’s blacksmith, uses his hammer and anvil as a signal: “Tonight he is sending word to the folks in the woods, who are waiting to hear when it’s time to leave.” In an author’s note, Van Steenwyk (How Kate Warne Saved President Lincoln) acknowledges that “there are many theories about how might have communicated with each other, but little evidence to support these beliefs,” so it’s unclear what, if any, historical basis the story has. When his father falls ill, the boy steps in to “send the message to those... who are waiting to hear the blacksmith’s song.” Rich (Under the Night Sky) heightens the stakes through the cinematic lighting of her dramatic, thickly daubed oil paintings—a strong sense of danger is ever present, both in scenes of opulent dinners and parties and in daring moonlit escapes. Despite the story’s uncertain historical underpinnings, it’s a plausible, powerful vision of ingenuity and daring in action. Ages 6–10. Author’s agent: Erin Murphy, Erin Murphy Literary. (Feb.)

Publishers Weekly

An intriguing new angle on an important story.” ―Kirkus Reviews

From the Publisher

2017-10-16
A historical picture book posits the question: what if blacksmiths used their hammers to communicate with runaways on the Underground Railroad?When the African-American narrator wakes to find Pa sick but still at the forge (slaves didn't get sick days), the child is worried Pa won't be well enough to hammer out vital information to travelers on the Underground Railroad that night, "sending word to the folks in the woods, who are waiting to hear when it's time to leave." Wondering when their family will run, the child is comforted by Ma with one word—"Soon"—and an affectionate embrace, the pair backlit by the warm glow of a fire. The child's anxious impatience is fascinating—it's a familiar trope of childhood placed within the harsh realities of American slavery. Rich's oil paintings evoke a sense of time and place, portraying various depictions of slave life. Later, when Pa doesn't have the strength to pound out his blacksmith's song, the child (who's practiced the rhythm, tapping it out on the henhouse, dancing to it, etc., throughout the story) must take up the hammer. Then finally! It's time for the family to run. Though believing a sick man could successfully run away requires some suspension of contemporary disbelief, the core of the story is completely credible: the ingenuity of communication among slaves and their intense commitment to freedom.An intriguing new angle on an important story. (author's note) (Picture book. 5-9)

Kirkus Reviews