A SCHOOL FOR POMPEY WALKER

The collaborators on Elijah's Angel (1992) have created a remarkable novella disguised as a picture book in which Pompey Walkera composite character made up of voices and facts drawn from different slave-narrativesreminisces for a group of children in the new elementary school bearing his name. Pompey was born a slave, bought and set free by his evil owner's son-in-law, Jeremiah. The two worked out a routine in which Jeremiah would sell Pompey into slavery, and then help him escape, which eventually resulted in their funding and building a school for black children in Ohio. Pompey has a colorful voice; he speaks black English and is constantly making philosophical digressions to help his audience more readily comprehend his story. Robinson envisions Pompey's words in a folk-art style; the black outlines form Lois Lenski-type people with slightly exaggerated features. These are filled with color, deliberately loose and invariably expressive and alive. Pompey's way with words, his demeanor, his attempts at articulationhe is irresistible, and his story must be heard. (Picture book. 7-12)she sensibly refuses