The Story of Ruby Bridges

The Story of Ruby Bridges

By: Robert Coles

Illustrated by: George Ford

Grade: 3 - 5

Genre: Biography, Realistic Fiction

            Have you ever wondered what it might feel like if you went to a school where everyone was different than you? What if you had a large group of strangers yelling at you every day over something you couldn’t control? In  The Story of Ruby Bridges, written by Robert Coles, we get to read about these issues through the eyes of a six year old girl.

            We meet Ruby in 1957 at age four. Ruby Bridges and her family had just moved from Tylerstown, Mississippi to New Orleans, Louisiana. Ruby’s family had very little money, so when her children had fallen asleep for the night, Ruby’s mother went to work. The family were big believers in their faith. They went to church every Sunday and wanted to feel close to God. During the 1960’s in New Orleans, it was against the law for black children and white children to go to the same schools and receive the same education. A judge ordered four black girls to go to two white schools; Ruby was the only student sent to first grade in William Frantz Elementary School. Ruby’s family prayed that they would be courageous to get through any trouble and that Ruby would hold her head up and be a role model for both black and white people. On Ruby’s first day of first grade there were a lot of angry protesters in front of Frantz Elementary School. People were mean, saying that she shouldn’t be allowed to go to school there. Since city and state officials wouldn’t help or protect Ruby, the President ordered federal marshals to walk with Ruby into the school carrying guns. For many months, Ruby would walk slowly at first up to Frantz School but when she could see people crowding closer and closer to her, she would walk faster and silently hurry through the crowd as the marshals kept the people away from Ruby. The white people wouldn't send their children to school, so Ruby was the only one in her classroom besides her teacher, Mrs. Henry. Although she had no new friends she was very nice and relaxed in the classroom. Mrs. Henry was very concerned about Ruby and watched her walk in to school. One day she saw Ruby stop in the middle of all of the people and start to move her lips. Thinking that she was talking to the crowd, Mrs. Henry asked her about it. Ruby explained that she prays for the protesters every day. She usually stops a few blocks before school, but on that particular day she had forgotten to stop until she was in the midst of the mob. Ruby said a prayer twice a day, on her way to and from school. The prayer at the end of the book describes how Ruby wants God to forgive the people for saying mean things about her, just as people had said mean things about God in the past.

            I decided that this book could be best described as a biography and a realistic fiction. The Story of Ruby Bridges is a true story about Ruby’s life, which is why I thought it should be categorized as I biography however since it doesn't capture Ruby’s entire life, I thought that realistic fiction would be another way to categorize this one event in her life. I think that this book could be used in many different ways within a classroom. It could be used in a classroom as part of a Reader’s Workshop, explaining how to write a biography about another person, in a history lesson explaining about the 1960’s, racial segregation, and perseverance through those times, during Black History Month, or even if you’re talking with students about the importance of getting an education and going to school. If a teacher was to use this story as a Read Aloud, the students could first look at the pictures and then come up with some ideas about the story based off of the events in the pictures.
          The author does a good job of describing how Ruby moved from one place to another, both in her words and in the illustrations. The descriptions about school, church live, and how Ruby's mother worked is all within the text as well as the illustrations. The story is based on fact and is written in a way that students would understand what was going on in the country at the time that the story takes place. Between the text and the illustrations, students who may be having a tough time understanding the vocabulary of the text would be able to know what was going in the story by looking at the illustrations. I feel that Ruby is worthy of a biography as she is an important character from the 1960's. It's important for students to know her story and have the knowledge of what school was like before they were born. The character is interesting to the students because Ruby is a schoolgirl and is about the age of the students that would be reading this book. The illustrations are also interesting and will keep the students captivated even if the vocabulary happens to be challenging for them. The author pulls the character, setting, and plot together because most of the story takes place in in school that Ruby attends as well as the family home. The story seems to accurately describe what happened to Ruby in terms that elementary school students would understand. 

            The Massachusetts standards that could be applied to this story are:

RL3.3 - Describe characters in a story (e.g., their traits, motivations, or feelings) and explain how their actions contribute to the sequence of events.

RL3.7 - Explain how specific aspects of a text’s illustrations contribute to what is conveyed by the words in a story (e.g., create mood, emphasize aspects of a character or setting).

RI3.7 - Explain how specific aspects of a text’s illustrations contribute to what is conveyed by the words in a story (e.g., create mood, emphasize aspects of a character or setting).

RI4.3 - Explain events, procedures, ideas, or concepts in a historical, scientific, or technical text, including what happened and why, based on specific information in the text.