Image © E.B. Lewis from ALL DIFFERENT NOW
Juneteenth, the holiday celebrating the emancipation of enslaved Americans, falls on June 19th – just sixteen days before the United States celebrates the Independence Day holiday on July 4th.
Explore the history of Juneteenth and children’s books featuring Juneteenth.
In between the liberation of the colonies from England (1775) and the liberation of the enslaved (1863-1865) there are close to 90 years. 90 years when “all men are created equal” did not mean men of color. 90 years where the Constitution, written by slave holders, was a “gross injustice.”
In 1852, the abolitionist Frederick Douglass said, “What, to the American slave, is your 4th of July? I answer; a day that reveals to him, more than all other days in the year, the gross injustice and cruelty to which he is the constant victim. To him, your celebration is a sham; your boasted liberty, an unholy license; your national greatness, swelling vanity.”
How do we reconcile these two declarations and celebrations of independence? We do not. There will always be a dissonance.
But we can read and remember slavery through children’s literature.
And we can read and share children’s fiction and non-fiction celebrating the beautiful, complex humanity of African Americans today.
Children need to read both. Both Black and non-Black children need to learn our nation’s history, but if the only representations of African-Americans are in stories of oppression and struggle, it sends a message that Black life is characterized by pain and struggle. All children also need contemporary stories of African American achievement, daily life, and joy.
Explore Curious City’s favorite books for ages 0-5 celebrating African American children.
This Juneteenth and July 4th, Curious City is reading three picture books to remember, rage, acknowledge responsibility, and repeat. And in there is (always) R-E-A-D. Always seek to expand your reading of African American literature.
Freedom Over Me: Eleven Slaves,
Their Lives and Dreams
By Ashley Bryan
Illustrated by Ashley Bryan
Published by Atheneum/Caitlyn Dlouhy Books
ISBN-13: 9781481456906
Age Range: 6+
Discover at Local Bookstore
Newbery Honor Book
Coretta Scott King Author Honor Book
Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor Book
Using original slave auction and plantation estate documents, Ashley Bryan offers a moving and powerful picture book that contrasts the monetary value of a slave with the priceless value of life experiences and dreams that a slave owner could never take away.
Imagine being looked up and down and being valued as less than chair. Less than an ox. Less than a dress. Maybe about the same as…a lantern.
You, an object. An object to sell.
In his gentle yet deeply powerful way, Ashley Bryan goes to the heart of how a slave is given a monetary value by the slave owner, tempering this with the one thing that CAN’T be bought or sold—dreams. Inspired by the actual will of a plantation owner that lists the worth of each and every one of his “workers”, Bryan has created collages around that document, and others like it. Through fierce paintings and expansive poetry he imagines and interprets each person’s life on the plantation, as well as the life their owner knew nothing about—their dreams and pride in knowing that they were worth far more than an Overseer or Madam ever would guess. Visually epic, and never before done, this stunning picture book is unlike anything you’ve seen.
All Different Now: Juneteenth,
the First Day of Freedom
By Angela Johnson
Illustrated by E.B. Lewis
Published by Simon & Schuster
ISBN-13: 9780689873768
Age Range: 5+
Discover at Local Bookstore
Through the eyes of one little girl, All Different Now tells the story of the first Juneteenth, the day freedom finally came to the last of the slaves in the South. Since then, the observance of June 19 as African American Emancipation Day has spread across the United States and beyond. This stunning picture book includes notes from the author and illustrator, a timeline of important dates, and a glossary of relevant terms.
Told in Angela Johnson’s signature melodic style and brought to life by E.B. Lewis’s striking paintings, All Different Now is a joyous portrait of the dawn breaking on the darkest time in our nation’s history.
Blue Sky White Stars
By Sarvinder Naberhaus
Illustrated by Kadir Nelson
Published by Penguin Young Readers Group
ISBN-13: 9780803737006
Age Range: 4+
Discover at Local Bookstore
An inspiring and patriotic tribute to the beauty of the American flag, a symbol of America’s history, landscape, and people, illustrated by New York Times bestselling and Caldecott-honor winning artist Kadir Nelson
Wonderfully spare, deceptively simple verses pair with richly evocative paintings to celebrate the iconic imagery of our nation, beginning with the American flag. Each spread, sumptuously illustrated by award-winning artist Kadir Nelson, depicts a stirring tableau, from the view of the Statue of Library at Ellis Island to civil rights marchers shoulder to shoulder, to a spacecraft at Cape Canaveral blasting off. This book is an ode to America then and now, from sea to shining sea.
Is the current administration’s policies of separating refugee children from their parents an opportunity to explore our history more closely? Explore article from Washington Post.
