African-Americans

Review: Rainbow Stew by Cathryn Falwell

| Tasha

rainbow stew

Rainbow Stew by Cathryn Falwell

Released on June 15, 2013.

Three children scramble out of bed at their grandpa’s house to a rainy day.  But they don’t want to stay inside, so Grandpa sends them outside to find colors to add to his Rainbow Stew.  They splash their way into the garden and look under the wet green leaves to find what colors are hidden beneath.  They find all sorts of green vegetables like beans, spinach, and cucumbers, some rosy radishes, some purple cabbage, yellow peppers, red tomatoes and brown potatoes.  Soon their basket is full and the three children are muddy and happy.  They all head inside to cook the stew together, each child helping in their own way.  Then there is quiet time inside as the stew cooks, until finally they can all enjoy Rainbow Stew!

Falwell merrily combines a love of gardening and a willingness to get muddy in this book.  She uses quick rhymes that add a bouncy feel to the book, maintaining that sense of joy that is everywhere in this book.  I am particularly pleased to see a book with a grandfather taking expert care of grandchildren in this book. 

The illustrations are filled with falling rain, but also small faces turned up into it and knees plunked down into the mud.  The completely African-American family is also great to see in a picture book that easily integrates into rain or gardening or color units and story times. 

Ripe and ready to be picked, this is a great choice for sharing aloud in spring or fall.  Appropriate for ages 3-5.

Reviewed from digital galley received from Lee & Low Books via NetGalley.

Review: A Splash of Red by Jen Bryant

| Tasha

splash of red

A Splash of Red: The Life and Art of Horace Pippin by Jen Bryant, illustrated by Melissa Sweet

Born in 1888, Horace Pippin loved to draw from the time he was a small child.  He would draw on scrap paper using charcoal, he would draw for his friends, and he would even draw on his spelling tests though his teacher did not appreciate that.  As he grew, he had to quit school in 8th grade.  He worked hard with his hands in different ways, but continued to draw and paint.  Then Horace went to war and was wounded in his right arm.  Now he could no longer draw, or so he thought.  He started trying again with a poker and using his other hand to steady himself.  As he grew stronger, he drew more and more.  Eventually, he gained the attention of people like N. C. Wyeth, who helped put together his first art show.  Pippin’s life that was filled with hardships and obstacles serves as inspiration for young artists.

Bryant and Sweet  collaborated before with Caldecott Honor results.  This picture book biography of an important but lesser known African-American artist shows the power of art in one’s life and how it is impossible to stop seeing and communicating the world through art once you begin.  Bryant writes with a solidity that is lovely.  Incorporating Pippin’s own words from letters, she captures the life of this artist and how he came to be recognized for his work.

Sweet too weaves Pippin’s words into her art.  Her use of collage truly builds Pippin’s world before readers’ eyes.  My favorite image in the book is Pippin as a young boy sitting and drawing on piles of papers.  It captures the intensity with which he created art even at such a young age.  This intensity continues through his story to after he is wounded and the determination that is apparent in just his hands. 

Another very successful collaboration of these two masters, this biographical picture book should serve as its own splash of red on every library’s shelves.  Appropriate for ages 6-9.

Reviewed from copy received from Random House Children’s Books.

Review: The Price of Freedom by Dennis Brindell Fradin

| Tasha

price of freedom

The Price of Freedom: How One Town Stood Up to Slavery by Dennis Brindell Fradin and Judith Bloom Fradin, illustrated by Eric Velasquez

In 1856, John Price and two other slaves escaped to Ohio and freedom.  But the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 was in effect and even free states were required to allow slave owners to capture escaped slaves anywhere in the United States.  John and his friend Frank spent the winter in Oberlin, Ohio, a hub of Underground Railroad activity.  They decided to stay and not travel to the safety of Canada.  So when a group of slave catchers came to Oberlin specifically hunting for John and Frank, the residents of the city had no legal grounds to help the two men.  When John was captured though, the city rose up against the slave catchers, forcing a showdown that would be one of the defining moments in fueling the Civil War.

Filled with informational facts, this book reads more like a fictional story thanks to its inherent drama.  It begins with John Price’s escape across the ice on stolen horses, continues through the Underground Railroad but the most amazing part is the final showdown, where your heart almost stops with the bravery and daring the Rescuers demonstrate. Fradin offers just the right mix of information and heroism.

Velasquez’s illustrations add to the dramatic feel of the narrative with their deep rich colors, drawn guns and historical details.  There are so many gorgeous night images filled with danger but also with hope.

This is a nonfiction picture book that is sure to inform children about an aspect of slavery that they will not have heard of as well as a tale of what a group of brave citizens can do.  Appropriate for ages 7-9.

Reviewed from library copy.

Review: A Certain October by Angela Johnson

| Tasha

certain october

A Certain October by Angela Johnson

Johnson continues to write powerful books in a short format.  Here we meet Scotty, a teenage girl who thinks of herself as rather bland, like tofu.  The people around her seem more vibrant and complex like her little brother who has autism and enjoys trains, being naked, and eating cookies.  Her best friends too seem to be more interesting to Scotty.  Then in October everything changes because of a train accident.  Scotty’s little brother is injured severely and another boy is killed. Scotty feels responsible for both of them, though she barely knew the other boy.  This is a story that takes the small details of life and then shows how a single event can tear through, changing life forever.

Johnson writes like a poet, using unique symbolism to make her points.  Scotty sees herself as tofu, bland until someone else adds flavor.  Readers though will immediately understand that that is how Scotty views herself, not how the she actually is.  Instead Scotty is an intriguing mix of teen angst, intelligence, and a big heart. 

Johnson writes her characters in real life.  They all read as real people, not even the parents becoming stereotypical.  The teen boys are just as human as the main character, treating the girls with respect and friendship.  It’s a refreshing change to see male secondary characters who are more than a stereotype too.  When Scotty is grieving, the power of family and friendship together is obvious.

With its dynamic cover and short length, this book is sure to be picked up by teen readers.  Here they will find a strong heroine who is intensely and utterly real.  Appropriate for ages 13-15.

Reviewed from copy received from Simon & Schuster.

Review: I Have a Dream by Martin Luther King, Jr.

| Tasha

i have a dream

I Have a Dream by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., illustrated by Kadir Nelson

The power of Martin Luther King’s words meet the beauty of Nelson’s art in this luminous picture book.  Using lines pulled directly from the latter part of King’s famous I Have a Dream speech, Nelson shows young readers how history was made that day.  From King himself standing before the Lincoln Memorial to the seas of people listening, people of all colors standing side-by-side.  Kadir moves back and forth between capturing the magnificence of King and his speech to images of what the world being dreamed of would look like.  There are beautiful skin tones shown together as well as impressive vistas of the nation.  Pure celebration, this is a picture book that truly captures the heart of King’s speech in a way that children will be able to understand.

Nelson’s art has already won him a Caldecott Honor.  Here he has the courage to take on a famous man at his more memorable moment.  But he doesn’t just show us the history, he illuminates it.  King shines with light, stands with power, and beams with faith.  There is a humanity to him too, somehow Nelson has captured what is beneath the skin too.  Beautifully.

One of my favorite images of the book is the pair of white and black hands joined together.  Against a plain white background, the hands are such a powerful symbol.  Kadir paired those joined hands with a section about faith, so the two joined together become a prayer of their own too. 

This book belongs in every library, both for the historical power of the moment being captured, but also for its exceptional beauty and art.  Appropriate for ages 7-9.

Reviewed from copy received from Schwartz & Wade Books.

Review: I Too Am America by Langston Hughes

| Tasha

i too am america

I, Too, Am America by Langston Hughes, illustrated by Bryan Collier

Collier marries the famous poem by Hughes with the story of the African-American Pullman porters, who served the wealthy white patrons aboard trains.  The poem speaks to the dream of freedom and equality that we are moving towards but have not yet attained in America.  It tells of servants sent to eat in the kitchen but also that in the future that will change and no one will again be sent to eat separately.  Collier’s illustrations depict the real work of the Pullman porters and the rhythm of the train seems to appear in Hughes’ poem too.  These men who worked in a racist world long after slavery was abolished are a fitting match to this strong poem that sings.

Hughes was able to write with such spare poetry, that it gives a strong vehicle for illustrations.  Collier built an incredible story around those lines, one of porters and a small boy who has new chances in the modern world.  He wraps his illustrations in the flag, playing with stars and stripes and the blue of the open sky throughout the book.  There is a gravity, a seriousness to his work that is truly fine.  It lifts up to the level of the poem, creating a harmony that is very special.

This is an extraordinary picture book about freedom, African Americans, and the struggle that still goes on every day for equality.  Appropriate for ages 7-10.

Reviewed from library copy.

Review: Words Set Me Free by Lesa Cline-Ransome

| Tasha

words set me free

Words Set Me Free: The Story of Young Frederick Douglass by Lesa Cline-Ransome, illustrated by James E. Ransome

This picture book tells the story of Frederick Bailey, who would grow up to become the great Frederick Douglass.  His biography is also the story of the power of the written word and the ability to read.  Born a slave, Frederick was separated from his mother early in life and sent to live with his Grandmamma.  His mother would walk 12 miles at night to see him while he slept.  At age 8, Frederick was sent to work for another master in Baltimore.  It was there that he first learned his letters, until his mistress was told to stop teaching him as it would make him unfit to be a slave.  Daring white children to write better than him, Frederick continued to learn to read.  Returned to his home, Frederick taught the other slaves to read too, eventually writing his own way free from slavery.

A glimpse at an amazing mind and leader, this book takes us back to his childhood.  It is a testament to the damage and horrors of slavery, as readers see Frederick taken away from one person after another in his life.  It is also a celebration of the human spirit and the power of writing to change a life.  Cline-Ransome’s writing is exemplary.  She tells the story with wonderful detail, rich with meaning, and plenty of depth.  The book has more words than most picture books, but the story being told needs those words to shine best.

The illustrations are also rich.  There is such an aching feel to the image of the slave mother visiting Frederick that it is a portrait in heartbreak.  Other illustrations capture emotions beautifully as well.  The soaring nature of Frederick hidden up high and reading a newspaper rises against a purple-blue sky. 

The author and illustrator have created a wonderfully cohesive work with soaring prose and powerful illustrations.  Appropriate for ages 7-10.

Reviewed from library copy.

Review: Ellen’s Broom by Kelly Starling Lyons

| Tasha

Ellens Broom

Ellen’s Broom by Kelly Starling Lyons, illustrated by Daniel Minter

After slavery ended, Ellen’s parents’ marriage would finally be recognized by law.  Until then, no slave marriages were seen as legal.  The broom had always hung over the fireplace mantel in their home and all of the children knew the story of their parents jumping the broom and becoming man and wife.  When the family set off to make the marriage legal, all four children came along and Ellen was honored to carry the broom.  As their parents were about to be married, Ellen and her sister ran outside and decorated the plain straw broom with flowers and her mother carried the broom as a bouquet.  When her parents were married, Ellen knew that the ceremony wasn’t complete until they had once again jumped the broom together as a couple. 

This lovely picture book looks at Reconstruction, a period not often featured in picture books.  The depiction of a loving family who have survived slavery and are rejoicing in their new rights and freedoms is the center of the book.  Lyons does not shy away from showing the lingering shadows and effects of slavery, though they are shown more as memories and concerns, making them appropriate for the young audience.

Minter’s illustrations have such a delicate line that at first they do not seem to be block prints, but they are.  The bright colors and play of light and shadow make for a vivid read.  The wood grain of the walls alone are a masterpiece of line and color.

This picture book embraces family, tradition and looks to the future.  It is a gorgeous book that addresses a time in history that is often overlooked for young readers.  Appropriate for ages 5-7.

Reviewed from copy received from G. P. Putnam’s Sons.

Review: We March by Shane W. Evans

| Tasha

we march

We March by Shane W. Evans

More than a quarter million people marched on Washington on August 28, 1963.  In simple prose and stirring images, Evans tells the story of one child whose family marched that day.  It is a day of working together, faith, and community that culminates with Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech.  This picture book invites even the youngest of children to feel the power of that day, the message of racial harmony, and to understand how much more work there is yet to do.

The prose here is so simple that it just barely tells the story of the march.  With just a handful of words on each double-page spread, the words are very brief.  But the story being told here, is much more than those simple words.  Rather than obscuring the power of that day with too much exposition, this minimalist approach lets the transcendent moment in history shine.  The book does end with a page of information about the march for those looking for further details.

Evans’ illustrations are filled with strength.  He uses simple lines that he combines with a mix of painting and collage to get a layered effect in his art.  The colors are a mix of subtle and strong.  The illustrations focus on a single family that day, but also convey the size of the crowd and the diversity of the people marching.

A powerful, simple look at a historic moment, this book shines with its strong message of unity.  A great pick to share any time of the year, it’s one worth highlighting for February’s Black History Month.  Appropriate for ages 3-6.

Reviewed from copy received from Roaring Brook Press.