*Growth Area 2* This book by Matt Faulkner introduces students to the topic of racial segregation through a "colored drinking fountain or water bubbler". Two kids, Jelly and Lulu go with their Uncle Jack into the city after they hear a girl talking about seeing a sign for colored water. The kids are envisioned fruit flavored water and actual colors when in reality it was a segregated drinking fountain. The kids go up to the fountain to get a drink but while there witness a protest going on with singing and marching and police shooting water hoses out at people. They are shocked. At the end fo the story the kids are left wondering who drinks from colored fountains. The author then includes and afterward with more information about when he grew up and the way life was.

This is a great historical fiction picture book for kids. It’s a fascinating look at civil rights through a child’s eyes. The timing takes place during the civil rights era and focuses on two children who live out of town on a farm who don’t know about the civil rights that is going on until they come into town one day. They saw a sign above a water fountain that said “colored water”. A sign their friend had told them is actually different colored water. So they walked up to it and realized it was just clear water so they were confused why the sign above said colored water. Someone walks up and tells them they can’t use that because they are white. They ask their father what it means and that’s where he tells them about civil rights and how the white people and colored people were separated and not given equal rights. They had to use different water fountains, different schools, nothing the same. This is a great book for teachers to use when teaching about civil rights. ( )

In my opinion this was a great book to introduce the topic of racial segregation to children. This is because it lightly touches upon segregation in 1960s without making it a heavy topic. The author Matt Faulkner does this by using effective language, descriptive illustrations, and pushing his readers to think about tough historical moments. Faulkner uses language that an individual from the country in the 1960s would use. For example, “But I don’t want no silliness from y’all and I’ll expect you to stay in the truck while I’m in the store. Understand?” By using this language, the reader was able to pick up on the different dialect to indicate that the book was set in a more rural area. The illustrations also enhance the story because it provides a setting for the story without having the author tell us. For example, a picture in the book shows a tiny house, with trees and dirt surrounding it. This gives the clue that they are not living in a city or right next to someone else. Lastly, the book’s main plot is racial segregation in the 1960s which is a tough issue to discuss in an elementary classroom. Faulkner makes light of the situation by using children’s innocence. When one of the characters comes back from the city, she gloats about seeing a water fountain with colored water. Naturally curious, the other characters have to go see this fountain and all the beautiful colors that will come out. Towards the end, the characters find out that the water fountain spilled out normal clear water. So they were confused as to why it said color and why they could not drink from it. ( )

I really liked the story A Taste of Colored Water by Matt Faulkner. The illustrations were great, extremely vivid and historically accurate. Such as the sign over the water fountain that said colored. The main characters are very believable, two young children who hear about colored water. Being young and naïve they think that water will actually be a different color. While the book it’s self is fiction, the historically significance is extremely accurate. The big idea of the book was to give and introduction to the civil rights movement, and show how naïve children can be about certain issues going on in the world. ( )

I really enjoyed this book. The illustrations were absolutely beautiful. They were definitely key to understanding the time this book is set. Many times in the pages, the reader sees the tension the Civil Rights Movement brought on. The two kids in search of a water fountain of many different colors is juxtaposed against the backdrop of a Civil Rights protest and police brutality.

This is definitely a good book if a young reader wants to learn more about a certain time period. By reading the text and looking at the picture the reader will get a better sense of what segregation and the Civil Rights Movement was like. I really enjoyed reading about the two kids thinking that colored water was just that: colored water. It was interesting to read about their journey to finding the water fountain of colored water and their realization that it was not "colored water," it was a part of segregation. This books is a great way to explain to someone what race, prejudice, and segregation are. Overall I really enjoyed this book and would recommend it to everyone. ( )