Pink and Say

Wow! A story that speaks to the heart, one that leaves the reader changed.

Pink and Say is a picture book by Patricia Polacco set during the Civil War. Young Sheldon (Say) has been hit and left behind confederate lines. Pinkus (Pink) risks his life to bring Say to safety, and with his mother’s help, nurse Say back to health. Now the boys need to get back to their units as every minute they stay with Moe Moe Bay puts her life in danger. Moe Moe Bay’s strong faith will go with them. The boys will be forever bonded together by their experiences.

The vibrant illustrations depict, and the strong story line speaks to, the real life and times of the civil war – the kindnesses and heartbreaks. Because of the content, even though it is a picture book, you may wish to preview Pink and Say before passing the book along to young or sensitive children.

If you decide to use this book in your homeschool, you might appreciate these go-alongs from HomeschoolShare covering social studies (Civil War, slavery, Abraham Lincoln), science (First-Aid, lead), language arts (vocabulary, point of view, apostrophe, poetry) and math (ordinal numbers, story problems graphing) among other activities.

Updated 9-18-11