Ruby Bridges: A Talk with My Teacher

by Ruby Bridges, Trudy Tran (illustrator)

Acclaimed civil rights icon, Ruby Bridges, shares the touching tale of reuniting with the first-grade teacher who changed her life, Mrs. Henry.



Once again, you have shown me that you never get too old to learn. Teaching really is the noblest of professions.



When Ruby Bridges was only six years old, she made history by being the first Black child to integrate William Frantz Elementary School. She became best friends with her teacher, Mrs. Henry. Excited to come back for her second year, Ruby is soon devastated to learn that Mrs. Henry isn't her second-grade teacher. Where did Mrs. Henry go? Can Ruby ever reconnect with her favorite teacher?



A love letter to teachers who hold the power to change lives, Ruby A Talk with My Teacher illuminates the lasting impact that the best of teachers can have on the lives of their students. Trudy Tran's emotive rendering of Ruby Bridges from childhood to adulthood brings new life to this heartwarming story of a reunion between two long lost best friends.

Genres: Picture Books, History, Teachers, Biography, Nonfiction, Memoir, Race

Kindle Edition

Published January 7, 2025

About the author

Ruby Nell Bridges Hall is an American civil rights activist. She was the first African-American child to desegregate the all-white William Frantz Elementary School in Louisiana during the New Orleans school desegregation crisis on November 14, 1960.

Reviews

[Faloni © · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ruby Bridges walked so we could run. At just six years old, she faced crowds of hate, armed only with innocence and unshakable bravery. This book isn’t just history—it’s herstory, a powerful conversation between Ruby and her first-grade teacher, sharing the lessons they taught each other in a world unwilling to change. 📖✊🏾

Through honest words and heartfelt reflections, Ruby reminds us that progress takes steps—small, steady, and sometimes lonely. But courage? That’s what turns those steps into a movement. This book is more than a read—it’s a reminder. Black history isn’t just the past. It’s the foundation we walk on today. 📚❤️✨

[Theo · Rating 5 out of 5]

I got this book before it was published. It’s my favorite Ruby Bridges book. It’s about Ruby Bridges talking to her teacher Mrs Henry because she had not seen her for 35 years! She was a very important person in her life, she wanted to ask questions, and say thank you. I hope you love it too.

[Laura M · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although a bit long for young children, my 8 year old was captivated by the story because she identified with the author. Bridges beautifully captures the excitement and anxiety of beginning the school year while alluding to her momentous first grade year. What makes the book so special is the conversation she had with Mrs. Henry and how transcendent their relationship was.

[Barbara · Rating 3 out of 5]

While great admiration is due to the book's author, Ruby Bridges, and her teacher during that first lonely year of isolated education at Frantz School in New Orleans, Mrs. Henry, 1959, this story just didn't have the emotional impact I expected it to have. Maybe because there's just too little of Mrs. Henry and their conversation once they were reunited 35 years later in 1995, maybe not. Perhaps because it veers from her disappointment in not seeing Mrs. Henry again as a second grader to 1995, leaving readers wonder what happened in between. The book opens as Ruby prepares to begin second grade and looks forward to seeing her teacher. But even though the school is now integrated, Mrs. Henry is gone. Once Ruby's book about her experiences is published, they meet and chat in a conversation that seemed rather stilted to me. Still, this is a loving tribute to shared memories and experiences, the impact of teachers, and resilience as well as cross-generational friendships that is worth a read, especially for those educators who wonder sometimes if they are making an impact in the lives of their students. Created with Adobe Photoshop and Procreate, the illustrations have a soft, sentimental feel to them that allows readers to feel as though they are peering back through time.

[Laura Giessler · Rating 4 out of 5]

A new book about and BY Ruby Bridges. This book would be best used with other books and resources about Ruby Bridges--like The Story of Ruby Bridges by Robert Coles, the psychiatrist who worked with Ruby in the first year that she integrated William Frantz Elementary in New Orleans; the Norman Rockwell painting "The Problem We All Live With;" and the Oprah episode on which Ruby and her teacher Barbara Henry were reunited in 1996. Ruby's book ties these all together, but without other resources/information, children may lack needed context. This book humanizes Ruby, with the story of hiding her sandwiches in the cabinets and her wonder about the voices in the coat closet. What must it have been like for her?! The book is also a tribute to the power of teachers, and several notable teachers are highlighted in the glossary in the back, where I find my favorite line of all: "Teachers today are the first responders in the lives of their students, our babies." (This book could serve as a good prompt for Teacher Appreciation Week.)

[Krystie Herndon · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found out about this book on Good Morning America's good news website, and immediately checked it out of our local public library. Heartwarming, with lovely illustrations, I especially appreciate the fact that Ms. Bridges wrote the book as a tribute to her courageous first-grade teacher, Mrs. Barbara Henry. Ms. Bridges challenges readers to remember their own teachers; not only can I name every single one of my elementary-school teachers, but my 6th-grade teacher, Helen Ann Dannenberg Schwartz, remains a family friend, 51 years later, visiting my mother regularly in the nursing home down the street from her house in Columbia, MD, and cheering me and my twin sister on in all our endeavors. Not only did she goad me for decades to get my doctorate, but she was on the Zoom call while I defended my doctoral dissertation in 2021. May everyone have at least one teacher in their lives, as loyal as that!

[Jessica Harrison · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ruby Bridges: A Talk with My Teacher focuses on Ruby’s memories of and interactions with Mrs. Henry. It doesn’t tell the complete story about Ruby’s role in integration, but it does fill out the story that people are familiar with.

Ruby Bridges’ story is conveyed with bright, hope-filled text that’s comfortable to read. Trudy Tran’s illustrations feature a soft quality evokes the feeling of memories. They have a lovely strength to them.

End pages include a list of educators from throughout history that had a large impact on our world.

[Hinnah Khan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ruby Bridges is returning to school, and can’t wait to share news and catch up with her teacher Mrs. Henry. She is quickly disheartened when she discovers Mrs. Henry is not her teacher this year and can’t find her anywhere. Will she ever see her again? She never even got to say goodbye. Ruby recalls the joys and tribulations of the former year and how Mrs. Henry was by her side through it all. This is a sweet story on how much of an impact educators make. It is funny, sweet, and heart wrenching all at the same time. I highly recommend it to everyone! Also, Ruby Bridges authored it herself!! 💖

[Pam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ruby Bridges share memories from her second year at the school. She is concerned that her teacher is no longer there. It takes decades but after the first book about her is published, she reconnects and they share memories of their year together. Lovely reflection on this time.

[Colleen Downey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Listen to this book through my library app. My dad instilled in me a great drive and love to learn history. I do enjoy any books that the person they are about reads them. Very quick but full of information. 

[Jenae · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a sweet tribute to teachers everywhere by none other than civil rights icon Ruby Bridges.

[Rachel Chapman · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is more like an illustrated essay about Ruby Bridges reuniting with her childhood teacher. Would be good for older elementary.

[Brenda Kahn]

Thought, but long picture book memoir. Important. Touching.

[Crissi Brandhuber · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hard for a child to follow