The Drinking Gourd: A Story of the Underground Railroad (I Can Read Book Series: Level 3) » (Unabridged)

The late F. N. Monjo, author of The Drinking Gourd, wrote two other popular I Can Read Books: Indian Summer, illustrated by Anita Lobel, and The One Bad Thing About Father, illustrated by Rocco Negri.

The stars of the Big Dipper have led a runaway slave family to Deacon Fuller's house, a stop on the underground railroad. Will Tommy Fuller be able to hide the runaways from a search party -- or will the secret passengers be discovered and their hope for freedom destroyed?

School Library Journal

K-Gr 3—This classic story (HarperCollins, 1993), written by F. N. Monjo and illustrated by Fred Brenner, tells how Tommy Fuller, a Quaker boy, discovers and assists runaway slaves who were being helped by his father, a conductor of the Underground Railroad. Conversations between Tommy and his father address slaves as property, the Fugitive Slave Law, obeying laws, and trying to change laws. Patrick Collins's narration is well-paced and expressive, employing voice changes for the characters. Sound effects add to the telling. At the beginning of the story, the song "The Drinking Gourd" tells of following the Big Dipper to Canada and to freedom. Page-turn signals are optional. This audiobook offers a good introduction to introduce units on slavery and the Civil War.—Ann Elders, Mark Twain Elementary School, Federal Way, WA