African American Children Literature

Note: This theme fits the book because the little girl viewed the sign on the water fountain differently than what it actually meant. When the old white man came and pushed her off the step stool and scolded her, she did not understand what she did wrong. She interpreted that the sign "Whites Only" meant the color of her shoes, and not the color of her skin. As people gathered around the water fountain, they realized that the girl misinterpreted the sign and soon everyone started taking off their shoes as well. Everyone around the fountain, black and white, had different colored socks on and proceeded to drink from the fountain. The theme statement "Judging people by skin color is as thoughtless as judging people by the color of their socks," intertwines the main event of the story, White Socks Only.