Susan VanHecke

Granny Smith wants to bake an apple pie, but she doesn’t have any apples. So off she goes with a basketful of plums in hopes that she can make a trade. Granny swaps plums for feathers, feathers for flowers, flowers for a gold coin, a gold coin for a puppy, and a puppy for what she hoped to find in the first place—apples! Then she bakes a delicious apple pie for everyone she has met along the way. Based on an English folktale, each spread is meticulously illustrated in bas-relief made from baked clay, hand-sewn clothing, and mixed media. Author and Illustrator notes and an apple pie recipe are also included.

Taut free verse tells the little-known story of the first contraband camp of the Civil War--seen by some historians as the "beginning of the end of slavery in America." One night in 1861, three escaped slaves made their way from the Confederate line to a Union-held fort. The runaways were declared "contraband of war" and granted protection. As word spread, thousands of runaway slaves poured into the fort, seeking their freedom. These "contrabands" made a home for themselves, building the first African American community in the country. In 1863, they bore witness to one of the first readings of the Emancipation Proclamation in the South--beneath the sheltering branches of the tree now known as Emancipation Oak.