An American Story (Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award Winner)
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5.0 • 1 Rating
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- $10.99
Publisher Description
A Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award Book
A 2023 New York Times Best Children's Book
A 2023 Publisher's Weekly Best Picture Book
An NPR Best Book of the Year
#1 New York Times Bestselling and award-winning author of The Undefeated, Kwame Alexander, pens a powerful picture book that tells the story of American slavery through the voice of a teacher struggling to help her students understand its harrowing history.
From the fireside tales in an African village, through the unspeakable passage across the Atlantic, to the backbreaking work in the fields of the South, this is a story of a people's struggle and strength, horror and hope. This is the story of American slavery, a story that needs to be told and understood by all of us. A testament to the resilience of the African American community, this book honors what has been and envisions what is to be.
With stunning mixed-media illustrations by Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award winning artist Dare Coulter, this is a potent book for those who want to speak the truth. Perfect for family sharing, the classroom, and homeschooling.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Alexander begins this picture book with a vital question: "How do you tell a story/ that starts in Africa/ and ends in horror?" As Coulter's art alternates between elaborately sculpted historical scenes and contemporary charcoal vignettes of schoolchildren in a classroom, the following pages reveal a history that "hurts/ and still loves." Images of photographed clay figures against painted backgrounds begin in Africa, where children "finish chores/ play games/ listen to old tales." Pages next portray enslaved African people in the bowels of a ship and toiling "for free" in America, as well as "refusing/ to stop smiling/ and loving." It's a layered, compassionate telling that considers how to relay difficult truths, and as the art converges into a visual of past and present together, stirring concluding lines suggest a route forward: "by holding/ history/ in one hand/ and clenching/ hope/ in the other." Creators' notes conclude. Ages 4–8.
Customer Reviews
The Horrifying Truth of Slavery in America
We cannot ignore it or pretend it never happened even though it makes us uncomfortable. Slavery began with stealing human beings from their homes, chaining them into crammed cargo areas of ships, with no idea of what was happening to them and where they were being taken. And if they survived the journey, they were auctioned off like livestock and made to work endlessly for free for slaveholders who stole their children away and whipped those who rebelled in any way. Slaves built this country and reparations were never made.