Review of Hooray for Mother's Day
by Caleb Powell (with a little help from Mommy and Daddy)



If You Traveled On The Underground Railroad by Ellen Levine taught me a lot about the secret way that slaves escaped from the South to the North. Sometimes they would have to walk on the Underground Railroad. Sometimes they would have to ride on a boat. Sometimes they would have to ride on a horse and cart to the North. They had a long way to travel and had to walk most of the way. The book says that "the whole trip was called the Underground Railroad."

I also learned that when slaves were about to be sold, most likely they definitely did not want to go to Alabama or Georgia because it was really strict there. Slaves could work for the whole day and sometimes the whole night, too, and they might get chained at night so they couldn't escape.

Something else I learned was that when the slaves were escaping, sometimes they had to hide in the swamps and forests, in big trees and caves. There were alligators and wild animals in the forests and swamps, but the slaves were risking their lives to be free from slavery.

My mommy says she likes "how this book has many different subject headings with a few paragraphs about each topic." She also says that "it's an interesting and informative book for teaching children about life on the Underground Railroad."


Caleb is an energetic 7 year old. He says, "I like to play football, basketball and soccer, and I like doing multiplication." Caleb enjoys real-life math by studying his team's statistics after each game. He was recently awarded the "MVP and Most Unselfish" medal for his team's Fall 2003 soccer season.


December 1, 2003