Picture Book Review of The Red Comb by Fernando Pico

The Red Comb by Fernando Pico
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Today I read The Red Comb by Fernando Pico aloud to my fourth graders. The story is set in 19th Century Puerto Rico, so I pulled out the map to show my students where Puerto Rico is located (the smallest, most eastern island in the Greater Antilles. I confess I know little about this self-governing commonwealth territory under the United States. The story was an eye-opening cultural experience for all of us.

The Red Comb is about a young girl and an older woman who work together to help a runaway slave. The text is slightly cumbersome in some places, but there is a wealth of opportunity to teach vocabulary, history, and culture through this book.

Overall it's good book to use to introduce another time and place in our history.