Ruth and the Green Book

The picture book inspiration for the Academy Award-winning film The Green Book

Ruth was so excited to take a trip in her family's new car! In the early 1950s, few African Americans could afford to buy cars, so this would be an adventure. But she soon found out that Black travelers weren't treated very well in some towns. Many hotels and gas stations refused service to Black people. Daddy was upset about something called Jim Crow laws . . .

Finally, a friendly attendant at a gas station showed Ruth's family The Green Book. It listed all of the places that would welcome Black travelers. With this guidebook—and the kindness of strangers—Ruth could finally make a safe journey from Chicago to her grandma's house in Alabama.

Ruth's story is fiction, but The Green Book and its role in helping a generation of African American travelers avoid some of the indignities of Jim Crow are historical fact.

Commended for IndieFab awards (Children's Picture) 2010
Commended for Capitol Choices: Noteworthy Books for Children and Teens (Seven to Ten) 2011
Commended for Jane Addams Children's Book Award (Bks for Younger Children) 2011
Commended for Jefferson Cup (Young Adults) 2011
Commended for Independent Publisher Book Awards (Children's Picture) 2011
Short-listed for Bluebonnet Awards 2013
Short-listed for North Carolina Children's Book Award (Picture Book) 2012
Short-listed for Delaware Diamonds Award (Grades 3-5) 2011
Short-listed for Sequoyah Book Awards (Children's) 2013

“"An ever-expanding system of roads and highways beckoned to motorists in the mid-1900s, but the glamour of the open road was often illusory for African-American citizens, particularly those traversing the Jim Crow South. In this fictional account of a family trip, Ramsey introduces young listeners to the blatant discrimination facing those travelers, but more importantly, to the network of businesses and individuals who opened their doors with welcome assistance. The Negro Motorist Green Book, devised and expanded by Victor Green, was an invaluable aid, listing black-owned service stations, restaurants, and overnight accommodations. As narrator Ruth and her parents make their way from Chicago to her grandmother in Alabama, the girl becomes adept at using their seventy-five-cent resource and passes along information about the book to another beset traveler they meet at an inn. Cooper's soft, stippled illustrations capture both the pathos of the bigotry and the warmth of the support the family encounters, and a substantial closing note on the Green Book itself invites the audience to explore it further online. This will be a fascinating addition to any civil rights picture-book collection and perhaps even a quick intro to a classroom novel unit on The Watsons Go to Birmingham--1963 (BCCB 1/96)." --The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books”

"The realistic illustrations are done in oil wash on board, a self-described 'subtractive process.' The picture is painted, then erased to 'paint' the final product. Overall, there is a sepialike quality to the art, giving the impression of gazing at old color photos. This is an important addition to picture book collections, useful as a discussion-starter on Civil Rights or as a stand-alone story." —starred, School Library Journal

Gwen Strauss's is an award-winning poet and her writing has appeared in many publications, including the London Sunday Times, The New Republic, New England Review, Kenyon Review, Tampa Review, and Antioch Review. She has also published books of poems titled Trail of Stones and The Night Shimmy which has been translated into several languages. She works as the on-site director at the Brown Foundation Fellowship Program at the Dora Maar House in Ménerbes, France. Calvin Alexander Ramsey is an Atlanta-based playwright, photographer, folk art painter, and children's book author. His plays have been performed across the United States and his picture books have won numerous awards including an ALA Notable Children's Book, a Jane Addams Children's Book Award Honor, and a Children's Book Committee at Bank Street College Best Children's Book of the Year. He is the father of three children, all of whom are writers. Floyd Cooper (1956-2021) was a Coretta Scott King Award winner and illustrator of numerous books for children including Ruth and the Green Book, A Spy Called James, and Max and the Tag-Along Moon. Unspeakable, one of his final picture books, was a National Book Award longlist title, a Sibert Honor book, and a Caldecott Honor book. He received a degree in fine arts from the University of Oklahoma and went on to develop a distinctive art technique called oil erasure.

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