# The Bell Rang

**Author:** James E. Ransome
**Grade range:** Grades K–5
**First published:** 2019
**Page count:** 40
**Genre:** Picture Book
**ISBN-13:** `9781442421134`
**ISBN-10:** `1442421134`
**Canonical URL:** https://readinglist.school/book/the-bell-rang
**License:** [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) — please credit ReadingList.school when citing.

## About this book

Recipient of a Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor Award A Kirkus Reviews Best Picture Book of 2019 A young slave girl witnesses the heartbreak and hopefulness of her family and their plantation community when her brother escapes for freedom in this brilliantly conceived picture book by Coretta Scott King Award winner James E. Ransome. Every single morning, the overseer of the plantation rings the bell. Daddy gathers wood. Mama cooks. Ben and the other slaves go out to work. Each day is the same. Full of grueling work and sweltering heat. Every day, except one, when the bell rings and Ben is nowhere to be found. Because Ben ran. Yet, despite their fear and sadness, his family remains hopeful that maybe, just maybe, he made it North. That he is free. An ode to hope and a powerful tribute t

## Where this book is assigned

### Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award

- **recommended** · Kindergarten grade — [source: Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award (American Library Association), via Wikipedia — 2020 Honor](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coretta_Scott_King_Award)
- **recommended** · 1st grade — [source: Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award (American Library Association), via Wikipedia — 2020 Honor](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coretta_Scott_King_Award)
- **recommended** · 2nd grade — [source: Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award (American Library Association), via Wikipedia — 2020 Honor](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coretta_Scott_King_Award)
- **recommended** · 3rd grade — [source: Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award (American Library Association), via Wikipedia — 2020 Honor](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coretta_Scott_King_Award)
- **recommended** · 4th grade — [source: Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award (American Library Association), via Wikipedia — 2020 Honor](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coretta_Scott_King_Award)
- **recommended** · 5th grade — [source: Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award (American Library Association), via Wikipedia — 2020 Honor](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coretta_Scott_King_Award)

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