Review by New York Times Review
HOW DOES ONE teach children about the violence of history? How does one teach them to confront loss in the present day? Three new books take on these challenging tasks in the context of African-American lives. "Mumbet didn't have a last name because she was a slave." So begins Gretchen Woelfle's "Mumbet's Declaration of Independence," which tells the story of a remarkable figure in American colonial history. Known as Bett or Betty, although some children "fondly called her Mom Bett or Mumbet," she successfully sued her owner, John Ashley, "the richest man in Berkshire County, Mass.," for her emancipation, and once liberated chose to name herself Elizabeth Freeman. Alix Delinois's illustrations beautifully balance the intensity of this history lesson. The opening pages feature seven portraits of Mumbet in different states of thought and emotion. Pensive, determined and graceful, she wears a white bonnet (outlined by bright reds and yellows) in poses that highlight the complex and dynamic human being she must have been. Having overheard discussions of the Massachusetts Constitution of 1780, which states that "All men are born free and equal," Mumbet enlists the help of an attorney, Theodore Sedgwick (father of Catharine Maria Sedgwick, who would later record Mumbet's story), to challenge her enslavement. "I am not a dumb creature," Mumbet says. "I deserve my freedom." Two years after she brought her case, a judge declared slavery illegal in the state of Massachusetts, which in turn led to the freeing of 5,000 slaves. Woelfle's narrative skillfully keeps Mumbet at center, focusing on Mumbet's struggles against her mistress, Mrs. Ashley, who did not have the right to own property yet "owned the sharpest tongue in town." Her verbal and physical cruelty toward Mumbet and Mumbet's daughter, Lizzy, challenges the common belief that white women were passive spectators of slavery's violence and the sentimental allies of slaves. Mumbet, a protective mother, is so eager for her own and her daughter's freedom that she uses the Revolution's egalitarian rhetoric to declare their independence. Woelfle's narrative and her appended notes and references offer opportunities for discussing nuances in the history of American slavery. In "Under the Same Sun," Sharon Robinson, the daughter of the baseball legend Jackie Robinson, also deals with the history of slavery but folds it into a story about a modern-day family reunion. Auntie Sharon and Grandmother Bibi travel from America to Tanzania to visit David (Sharon's brother and Bibi's son, who grew up in Connecticut but has lived in Tanzania since 1984), his wife and their seven children. The reunited family goes on safari in Serengeti National Park to celebrate Bibi's 85th birthday. Here AG Ford's illustrations of gazelles, lions, giraffes and elephants provide a welcome burst of energy in an otherwise sweet but not particularly dramatic story. At the end of their trip, the group visits the coastal town of Bagamoyo (Swahili for "to let go of one's heart"), where David tells his African-born children the town's sad past as a slave-trading post. "We are much more fortunate than our African ancestors who were forced to leave the country that they loved and had no chance of returning. We are blessed with the freedom to travel back and forth." Based on personal experience, Robinson's book introduces young readers to a family living on two different continents and speaking different languages, English and Swahili. Emphasizing the family reunion in the context of the African diaspora offers a somewhat romantic if uplifting opportunity to learn about a tragic history. AT FIRST GLANCE there seems to be nothing so uplifting about Daniel Beaty's "Knock Knock: My Dad's Dream for Me," winner of the 2014 Coretta Scott King Illustrator Book Award. Every morning a boy and his father play a game. When the father goes "Knock Knock," the boy pretends to be asleep until his dad approaches. "Then I get up and jump into his arms." But one day, and every day after, the boy's father fails to appear. The boy writes him a letter: "Papa, come home, 'cause I want to be just like you, but I'm forgetting who you are." Two months later, a letter from the father finally arrives explaining that he will not be coming home, and that from now on, the boy must use the advice in the letter to guide him: "Dribble the page with the brilliance of your ballpoint pen," the father writes. "Knock Knock down the doors that I could not," he says. "Knock Knock for me, for as long as you become your best, the best of me still lives in you." We read the father's letter as we watch the boy grow into a man, becoming a builder as well as a husband and father. Bryan Collier's richly textured illustrations and the lyricism of Beaty's text - with its echoes of spoken-word poetry - make this story of bereavement also a story of possibility and beauty. Collier gives the boy's world a three-dimensional feel: We see him staring at his father's hat in a collage that melds his home and urban environment against a receding blue sky. That sky disappears entirely as the boy grapples with his grief, only to reappear in a wider expanse when he grows up. Details like the hat and a set of elephants recur to symbolize loss and forgetting, while the texture of paper, the father's ties (worn again eventually by the son) and other objects suggest the persistence of memory. Although a note by the author suggests that the story is based on Beaty's father's incarceration, the narrative never explains why the father has left, allowing Beaty to address parental absence of any kind and speak more generally to the challenges of growing up when the cards seem to be stacked against you. "Knock Knock: My Dad's Dream For Me" is the most intimate of the three books and perhaps the one that best illustrates W. H. Auden's wise observation that "there are no good books which are only for children." GLENDA R. CARPIÓ is a professor of African and African-American studies and English at Harvard and the author of "Laughing Fit to Kill: Black Humor in the Fictions of Slavery."
Copyright (c) The New York Times Company [February 23, 2014]
Review by Booklist Review
The premise may look ordinary: a group of siblings eagerly await the arrival of their grandmother and aunt, but the particulars and illustrations make clear that this tale will be different. The setting is Tanzania, and the visiting relations are from America. Part heartwarming family story, part travelogue, the narrative comfortably meanders as it describes both culturally rich at-home routines as well as an amazing excursion to the Serengeti National Park. As with any meaningful vacation, everyone is changed by the experience, especially when, on the last day, the group visits the ruins of an old slave-trading post. There the children learn a sobering truth: one of their ancestors had been captured and taken to America. Robinson bases the affecting story on her own family history, and Ford captures the memorable moments in luminous, full-spread oil paintings, while the historic revelation is set apart in nearly monochromatic sepia, allowing youngsters to pause and reflect. Grandmother's closing words will resonate with all readers: land and sea may be between us, but we are all under the same sun. The book concludes with a note and information on Tanzania.--McDermott, Jeanne Copyright 2014 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
A Tanzanian family welcomes their Auntie Sharon and Grandmother Bibi from America for a very special occasion: a surprise safari in honor of the matriarch's 85th birthday. After three days of marveling at the sights and sounds of the Serengeti, Father-Auntie Sharon's brother-takes the group to the coastal town of Bagamoyo (Swahili for "to let go of one's heart") and tells its sad history as a slave-trading post. "[W]e are much more fortunate than our African ancestors who were forced to leave the country that they loved and had no chance of retuning," Father says. "We are blessed with the freedom to move back and forth." Robinson (Jackie's Gift), the daughter of baseball legend Jackie Robinson, bases this book on family history and a family trip, and while her tale isn't particularly dramatic, her pride in her family's resilience shines through. Ford's (Barack) acrylics don't add much emotional depth despite their detail and rich palette, but he brings a matter-of-fact approach to a distant landscape that underscores how a close family can transcend geography. Ages 4-8. Illustrator's agent: Steven Malk, Writers House. (Jan.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
K-Gr 3-This earnest, though overstuffed, story begins as a dual celebration of the author's loving family and of the culture and landscape of Tanzania. Sharon and her mother arrive for a visit with her brother David and his family, who live in the East African nation, and after several days of market-going, hair-braiding, and other charmingly mellow depictions of the local culture, the family surprises the matriarch with a Serengeti safari for her 85th birthday. Ford's acrylic and oil illustrations provide warm visuals for the family celebration and scenes of the magnificent savannah denizens as they lounge, lope, and spring, part of the astonishing splendor of the countryside. Unfortunately, the story then takes a jarring tonal shift. After 24 pages of jubilant family gathering and animal viewing, the following page yields a somber, nondescript view of stone ruins-the remnants, readers learn, of a coastal slave-trading post. The book continues with several pages about the post and the family's ancestral bondage, including impactful illustrations rendered in conventionally "historical" sepia tones and an incomplete definition of slavery. Problematically, the matriarch offers a well-intentioned comparison between the emotions of the captives severed from their homes and loved ones at this slave-ship port and her thriving family's sadness at living at an ocean's distance. Though David gently rebuts the statement, the moment encapsulates the book's startling tonal inconsistency in depicting the reunited family's cheery wildlife excursion and attempting to incorporate the solemn reality of centuries of oppression. Back matter includes an author's note, map, Swahili glossary, and photos of preparing a Tanzanian meal.-Robbin E. Friedman, Chappaqua Library, NY (c) Copyright 2014. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
Robinson draws on her own experiences in this story about a family reunion in Tanzania to celebrate a special birthday. The extended, bi-continental family reflects on its ancestors' capture and forced emigration from Africa to enslavement in the U.S. Ford's paintings convey the loving family's bond. An author's note, map, glossary of Swahili words, and family photos enhance the lengthy, purposeful text. (c) Copyright 2014. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Eleven relatives from two countries gather under one sun for a wild (literally) birthday bash. Robinson, author of many acclaimed books about her famous father, Jackie Robinson, writes in this true story about her mother, Rachel (known as Bibi to the grandchildren). Here, she celebrates her 85th birthday on safari in Tanzania with her son and daughter-in-law and their seven children. Though David Robinson (the author's brother) grew up in Connecticut, he has made his home in Tanzania since 1984, making this celebration a rare opportunity for family togetherness. Over its course, readers will absorb a few words of Swahili, the mother tongue of the grandchildren, and also learn about slavery in Tanzania's history. The gazelles, lions, giraffes and elephants the family sees on safari, though, will likely upstage the book's history lessons. Given the number of children and the unfamiliar names of several of them (Nubia, Busaro, Saburi), readers would do well to study the photographs that appear in the backmatter prior to reading the story. In fact, the photographs of the family's shopping for and cooking a Tanzanian meal may appeal to some readers more than Ford's acrylic-and-oil illustrations since they vividly represent the beauty of the country and feature mounds of freshly cut pineapples and heaps of interesting market-fresh fare. A worthwhile snapshot of a family that delights in its international and cross-cultural ties. (Picture book. 4-8)]]]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
