This extremely short story, sold as an individual book (for which I will blame the greed of the publiser rather than Mildred Taylor). The father of a black family in Ohio in 1955 buys a Cadillac without consulting his wife. She disapproves of the waste of money and refused to even ride in it, while the rest of the family loves it. But when he decides to drive the Cadillac to Mississippi to visit family there, everyone's mood changes, because they know a black man driving an expensive car in the deep south is dangerous. A whole caravan of family goes on the trip, and sure enough, the father driving the Cadillac is harassed by white police. When they get back home, he sells the Cadillac.
This story was simple to the point of not really being worth telling. Though classified with the Logan family series that includes the brilliant "Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry," this little story is at best, a quick read aloud for young elementary school children as an introduction to institutionalized racism, without anything becoming too severe or graphic. For older children or adults, this one is better just skipped. ( )

Award winner Mildred Taylor tells a very personal tale of growing up in Ohio and visiting relatives in Mississippi after World War 2 when racism and bigotry was lawful. She tells it through her character Lois. Lois and Wilma are taken by their father's new gold cadillac. The cadillac remained a symbol of acceptance into the white culture. But when father decides to take the cadilac to the South to Mississippi to visit the grandparents, his wife objects. The story is from the prospective of Lois. I think this short book was wonderful and resonated deeply with how divided the South was to black people still. Even though these are different times, children today are still old enough to still experience this rampant racism in our times. It's a discussion that a young reader may want to have with their own parents as they too may have had these same experiences. ( )

This book tells a story about a family from Ohio whose father buys a brand new gold Cadillac. With the exception of the mom, everyone in the family (and neighborhood) is envious of his new car. This story touches on the issue of racism, when the family travels down to rural Mississippi. At one point the father is pulled over for having such as nice car. Seeing that life is still very different in the south, the family is forced to overcome this obstacle and return home. In the end, the family learns a major lesson about unity. The real resolution of the story does not occur until the family returns to Ohio and their normal life. ( )

In The Gold Cadillac a father buys a new shiny gold Cadillac. His daughters are so excited to see the new car and cannot understand why their mother is so unhappy about their father’s purchase. After an unpleasant trip to the south the girls learn why their mother was so unhappy.

I originally read this story when I was in the third grade. As a child I was amazed of how people could treat one another so cruelly. The story still has an impact on me and I am glad that we live in today has less prejudice

This book would be a good way to introduce discrimination and teach that differences make us unique and we should love one another for them. Also, this book would tie in well with a history lesson over the Civil Rights Movement. ( )

This is a story of a black family living in the north who bought a gold Cadillac thay they were very proud of until they take a drive to the South and encounter racial prejudice. When the family drives back home, they sell the Cadillac and buy a different car.

i enjoyed reading this story and think children will enjoy this book. I thought how awful this can be knowing that ther is racial prejudice still happening today. Even though it is nothing like this story we still have it amoung us.

I would use this book in the classroom to teach students how wrong racial prejudice is. I would have the students write a paragraph on a racist act that happened in the story and compare it to another racist act that happened in our history. ( )