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Home > Early Learning Books > Children’s picture books > Freedom to Read: The Story of Teacher Mary Peake and One Mighty Oak Tree
Freedom to Read: The Story of Teacher Mary Peake and One Mighty Oak Tree

Freedom to Read: The Story of Teacher Mary Peake and One Mighty Oak Tree


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About the Book

Four starred reviews!
“A thoughtful double portrait that reaches forward and back.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)

From Newbery Honor author Lesa Cline-Ransome and ALA Children’s Literature Legacy Award recipient James Ransome, this “important picture book biography” (School Library Journal, starred review) tells the story of Mary Peake, a courageous teacher who started a secret school for Black children.

So many found sanctuary in Mary’s secret schoolhouse. They found freedom in letters. In Mary’s teaching, they found a refuge.

Mary Peake was born free in 1823 in Norfolk, Virginia, and from a young age she hungered for learning. Mary attended a colored school in her youth, but when Virginia lawmakers outlawed education for colored students, both enslaved and free, the schools had to close their doors. Mary wanted nothing more than to share the gift of education, so she opened up her home as a secret school, risking punishment in order to teach.

When the Civil War broke out, Mary and her community found refuge in a Union camp, and Mary set up a new schoolhouse under the branches of a proud oak tree. Shoulder to shoulder, students of all ages gathered to hear Mary teach.

Mary’s crusade for education became a model for one of the first historically black colleges, Hampton University. Her story—part of “an important and often untold aspect of American history” (The Horn Book Magazine, starred review)—is a celebration of one woman’s sacrifices for the freedom to read

About the Author :
Lesa Cline-Ransome is the author of numerous nonfiction and historical fiction titles for picture book, chapter book, middle grade, and young adult readers. Her One Big Open Sky was both a Coretta Scott King Honor book and a Newbery Honor book. Her picture books include Fighting with Love: The Legacy of John Lewis, Game Changers: The Story of Venus and Serena Williams, and The Power of Her Pen: The Story of Groundbreaking Journalist Ethel L. Payne. Her verse biography of Harriet Tubman, Before She Was Harriet, was nominated for an NAACP Image Award and received a Jane Addams Children’s Book Honor, Christopher Award, and Coretta Scott King Honor for Illustration. Her debut middle grade novel, Finding Langston, won the Scott O’Dell Award for Historical Fiction and received the Coretta Scott King Award Author Honor. She lives in the Hudson Valley region of New York with her husband and frequent collaborator, James Ransome, and their family. Visit her at LesaClineRansome.com.

James E. Ransome’s Fighting with Love: The Legacy of John Lewis was called “a warm tribute” by Kirkus Reviews and “highly recommended” by School Library Journal, both in starred reviews. His highly acclaimed illustrations for Before She Was Harriet received the Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor. His other award-winning titles include the Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award Honor Book The Bell Rang, Coretta Scott King Author Award Honor Book Uncle Jed’s Barbershop, Reading Rainbow Book Sweet Clara and the Freedom Quilt, and Let My People Go, winner of the NAACP Image Award. James is also a recipient of the ALA Children’s Literature Legacy Award. He is on the faculty at the School of Visual Arts in the MFA Illustration Visual Essay program. James frequently collaborates with his wife, author Lesa Cline-Ransome. They live in New York’s Hudson Valley region with their family. Visit James at JamesRansome.com.

Review :
Cline-Ransome tells the intertwined stories of the oak and of Peake through powerful modified chain verse.... Ransome’s elegant, stately pencil and watercolor illustrations, in a rich palette of greens and golds, convey dignity and pride.... This inspiring narrative relates an important and often untold aspect of American history as it pertains to the chattel enslavement of Africans: that enslaved people resisted their subjugation in a multitude of ways, including through education.  With practiced precision, the Cline-Ransomes merge the story of Mary Peake and the Emancipation Oak tree with gorgeous watercolor pages that shine golden and brim with movement. This biography should be part of every elementary school's curriculum. An important picture book biography about an unsung figure in Black history.... A recommended purchase, offering accessible prose for younger readers and strong social studies connections for older ones. A child and a tree mature to reveal an interconnected legacy... Spotlighting a living historical landmark and a pioneering teacher, it’s a thoughtful double portrait that reaches forward and back. 


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Product Details
  • ISBN-13: 9781534463509
  • Publisher: Simon & Schuster
  • Publisher Imprint: Simon & Schuster
  • Height: 279 mm
  • No of Pages: 48
  • Sub Title: The Story of Teacher Mary Peake and One Mighty Oak Tree
  • Width: 229 mm
  • ISBN-10: 153446350X
  • Publisher Date: 24 Sep 2026
  • Binding: Hardback
  • Language: English
  • Spine Width: 10 mm
  • Weight: 483 gr


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