This Is the Rope

Starred review from May 20, 2013
Woodson’s (Each Kindness) gentle, unpretentious writing and Ransome’s eloquent artwork breathe life into this story of a close-knit African-American family and their pursuit of a better life. The rope of the title is used over and over, tying luggage to the family station wagon when they leave South Carolina, airing diapers outside their new Brooklyn apartment, serving as a jump rope for the narrator’s mother as a girl, then securing boxes as she later goes off to college. Ransome (Light in the Darkness) pays close attention to the details of life in 1970s and ’80s Brooklyn, from the posters on a bedroom wall and silverware drying by the sink to the dubious expressions of the neighborhood preteens as they survey the new girl. The rope that unites the family then passes to a new generation, as the narrator learns how to jump rope, “right here in Brooklyn, just last Friday night.” The chronicle of a homely object in an age of disposables and the sense of place Woodson and Ransome evoke make this an especially strong and vibrant fictive memoir. Ages 5–8. Author’s agent: Charlotte Sheedy Literary Agency.

Starred review from July 1, 2013

K-Gr 3-A utilitarian rope-now a toy, now a clothesline, now a fastening cord-ties together this lyrical multigenerational story of one family's experience leaving the South for greater opportunities up North. Woodson's text and Ransome's warm, lived-in oils begin in the sweet expanse of South Carolina, the rich rural landscape contrasted with the busy, populous images of the family's new stone-and-concrete neighborhood in Brooklyn. Every page turn reveals the titular phrase again, but the repetition does not weary as the family thrives and evolves in great leaps and short steps. Significant episodes like the arrival of a baby or the beginning of college unfold in meaningful text and blend with fine splashes of humor; one surprisingly dynamic and evocative spread shows a teenager's room-Prince poster on the wall, Michael Jackson albums scattered on the bed-and the shadow of a mischievous younger brother dashing down the hallway with the rope, needed for "some crazy game that little boys play." An author's note offers a brief familial history as well as a few lines about the Great Migration and supports the text as a resounding affirmation of the journey made by more than six million African Americans in search of change. With characteristic grace and a knack for the right detail, Woodson and Ransome have provided a pleasing portrait of one loving family in the midst of a movement.-Robbin E. Friedman, Chappaqua Library, NY

Copyright 2013 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

With great affection, a Brooklyn girl tells the story of her grandmother, mother and a rope that forms a bond across three generations. When just a little girl in South Carolina, the grandmother finds a rope under a tree and uses it to play jump-rope. The rope becomes entwined in the family story as the grandparents, with a baby in their arms, move to Brooklyn, and that baby grows up to become mother to the narrator. Whether used for games, for tying down luggage on a car or for holding high a banner at a grand family reunion, the rope is treasured. Woodson, a Newbery Honor and Coretta Scott King Honor and Award winner, has crafted a warm family saga of a household united by love, pride and an uncommon heirloom. The repetition of the title in a nursery-rhyme style will resonate with young listeners. Ransome's vivid, full-bleed, double-page-spread oil paintings create an upbeat, welcoming vista of rural South Carolina and urban Brooklyn. The sun-infused yellows on the cover beckon readers to open the book and savor the "long-ago memory of sweet-smelling pine." A quiet affirmation of a strong and close-knit family that, along with so many other African-Americans, found a better life as part of the Great Migration. (author's note) (Picture book. 4-8) COPYRIGHT(1) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

July 1, 2013
With great affection, a Brooklyn girl tells the story of her grandmother, mother and a rope that forms a bond across three generations. When just a little girl in South Carolina, the grandmother finds a rope under a tree and uses it to play jump-rope. The rope becomes entwined in the family story as the grandparents, with a baby in their arms, move to Brooklyn, and that baby grows up to become mother to the narrator. Whether used for games, for tying down luggage on a car or for holding high a banner at a grand family reunion, the rope is treasured. Woodson, a Newbery Honor and Coretta Scott King Honor and Award winner, has crafted a warm family saga of a household united by love, pride and an uncommon heirloom. The repetition of the title in a nursery-rhyme style will resonate with young listeners. Ransome's vivid, full-bleed, double-page-spread oil paintings create an upbeat, welcoming vista of rural South Carolina and urban Brooklyn. The sun-infused yellows on the cover beckon readers to open the book and savor the "long-ago memory of sweet-smelling pine." A quiet affirmation of a strong and close-knit family that, along with so many other African-Americans, found a better life as part of the Great Migration. (author's note) (Picture book. 4-8)

COPYRIGHT(2013) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

June 1, 2013
Grades 1-3 A little African American girl skips rope back home in South Carolina in the mid-twentieth century. When she is grown, with a husband and a baby girl, she uses that rope to tie up their belongings as they move to New York City. A few years later, it becomes a skipping rope for her little girl. And when she grows up, her father uses it to tie up her belongings for the drive to college. Later, she marries and has a little girl of her own, who skips rope in Brooklyn. That child narrates this intergenerational family story, which (in an author's note) Woodson relates to the Great Migration. Expressive oil paintings illustrate the clean, well-cadenced text in scenes that include well-researched period details. Although it is difficult to convey the passage of so much time in a 32-page picture book, and children may have trouble keeping track of the generations, there's no doubt of the warmth and strength of the family ties that bind these individuals together. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY-- Woodson and Ransome both have huge followings who will be interested in what this collaboration has produced.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2013, American Library Association.)

July 1, 2013
"This is the rope my grandmother found / beneath an old tree / a long time ago / back home in South Carolina." The narrator's grandmother first uses it as her skipping rope. Later, she migrates north to Brooklyn as a young woman with her own family, and the rope is used in many other ways: to help tie their belongings to the top of their car, as a clothesline for laundry, as a cord for a pull toy, etc. But in each succeeding generation, one little girl uses it as skipping rope, sometimes as a solo pastime and sometimes in group play. As with the quilt passed down from generation to generation in Show Way (rev. 11/05), the rope becomes a symbol of family tradition and continuity against a backdrop of historical and social change. Woodson's understated but eloquent text gives specific details of one family's experience (the scent of South Carolina pine, the feeling of uncertainty of driving down a busy urban street for the first time, the pride in finally owning their own home), while Ransome's rich oil paintings provide historical context (Afros and dashikis in the 1960s, posters of Michael Jackson and Prince on a bedroom wall in the 1980s, mom's business suit in the 2000s). It all comes full circle in the end as Grandma sits on the front stoop watching her grandchild skip rope, just as she had done at the girl's age, and the sight stirs a "long-ago memory of sweet-smelling pine." kathleen t. horning

(Copyright 2013 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

January 1, 2014
The narrator's grandmother finds a rope that she uses as her skipping rope. Later it's also used in other ways (e.g., clothesline), but in each succeeding generation, one little girl uses it as a skipping rope. Woodson's understated but eloquent text gives specific details of one family's experience, while Ransome's rich oil paintings provide historical context.

(Copyright 2014 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)