Using age-appropriate language and vibrant illustrations, this little board book introduces young children to the origins of America's newest national holiday that distills a pivotal moment in U.S. history.

In 1834 Barbados, after the master of the Providence plantation in Barbados refuses to let them go even though the king has decreed an end to slavery, Rachel escapes and embarks on a grueling, dangerous journey to find her five children who survived at birth and were sold.

"Upon his election as President of the troubled United States, Abraham Lincoln faced a dilemma. He knew it was time for slavery to go, but how fast could the country change without being torn apart? Many abolitionists wanted Lincoln to move quickly, overturning the founding documents along the way. But Lincoln believed there was a way to extend equality to all while keeping and living up to the Constitution that he loved so much-if only he could buy...

"Priscilla Joyner was born into the world of slavery in 1858. Her life story, which she recounted in an oral history decades later, captures the complexity of emancipation. Based on interviews that Joyner and formerly enslaved people had with the Depression-era Federal Writers Project, historian Carole Emberton draws a portrait of the steps they took in order to feel free, something no legal mandate could instill. Joyner's life exemplifies the deeply...