Amazon.com Review
Spurned, burned, driven underground, the Black Church in America has long managed to thrive in spite of oppression and prejudice. In Tonya Bolden's rhythmic ode to this wellspring of compassion, creativity, and support, the church comes to life as a woman: "She has done so much / to make her people strong, / to keep so many alive in their bodies, in their souls. / Multitudes she has mothered / in times of dense distress." From slavery times, when the church was forced to be invisible, "her roof nightsky"; through the times when African Americans were "go-to-the-back-door people," and Martin Luther King Jr., Aretha Franklin, James Baldwin, and Leontyne Price were growing up in the church community; to the present; Bolden's passionate words embrace the gathering place of countless hopeful worshippers. Striking, angular, acrylic and colored pencil artwork by two-time Coretta Scott King Honor Award winner R. Gregory Christie (
Only Passing Through) beautifully captures the fervor, joy, and sorrow of the churchgoers. Detailed notes at the end of the book provide historical context. (All ages)
--Emilie Coulter
--This text refers to the
Hardcover
edition.
From Publishers Weekly
Bolden's (33 Things Every Girl Should Know) impressionistic poem is a paean to the strong religious tradition that has provided generations of African-Americans with guidance, solace, refuge, sustenance and inspiration. The author personifies the Black Church in poetic terms, "She has done so much to make her people strong, to keep so many alive in their bodies, in their souls." Presented in fonts of varying size, the narrative sketches the history of the Black Church, from the days of slavery that predated the existence of physical sanctuaries, "When she was invisible her roof nightsky, her flooring Godgrown pastures walled by woods quiet streams did steal away to her preachments and soul-toned singing for the grit to go on, the might to keep the faith and hold tight to Blessed Assurance that Liberation was in holy order." Such lyrical passages, as well as many first-name-only references to a number of legendary figures in African-American history, may prove cryptic to picture-book readers. But Bolden clarifies and expands upon her allusions in annotated concluding notes, and Christie's (Only Passing Through) collage-like acrylic and colored-pencil portraits evoke the likeness of these great leaders. His illustrations, with their emphasis on expression and posture against backdrops of cascading colors, capture the energy and passion of the individuals the familiar as well as the nameless whom Bolden celebrates in this emotion-charged work. Ages 5-8.
Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to the
Hardcover
edition.
