Review by Booklist Review
This is an inspiring exhortation for young African Americans to honor the amazing gifts that come from their ancestors. The book begins with descriptions of the rich cultures that thrived in Africa until 1619, when European slave traders first arrived. The following pages tell how enslaved people were torn from their families and forced into back-breaking labor. Throughout, the text speaks only to the deep, powerful qualities that allowed enslaved Africans to survive: love, as they created new families to protect one another; intellect, as they learned how to communicate through secret messages; strength and determination, as they devised ways to escape. Pages list African American inventors and entrepreneurs, gifted musicians, performers, and athletes who, readers are told, made many sacrifices and walked in grace. Young African American readers are told that they can honor this legacy by holding their head high and changing the world. Bright, brilliant, page-filling illustrations perfectly capture the joyous tone, and an author's note explains how Williams "wrote this book with humility and gratitude for the sacrifices made by my enslaved ancestors." Not focused on recrimination or placing blame, this book is a celebration of perseverance and dignity that deserves a wide audience.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
In this heartfelt debut, Williams offers an impassioned account of the enslaved African people whose descendants became today's African Americans. The narrative surveys the abundance of cultures, languages, and kingdoms that comprise Africa at the genesis of the Black chattel slavery in the summer of 1619, as well as the Black social and civic leaders who have shaped African American history and culture. Engel's nature-centered, effervescent mixed media illustrations, rendered in acrylics, oils, printmaking, and collage on paper and wood, depict enslaved African peoples in vivid detail, including varied skin tones; elaborate clothing designs; and intricately plaited hairstyles. Weaving a connection between young Black readers and the historic figures and events that preceded them, the author-illustrator team highlights traits that they posit allowed Black people to survive historic oppression, among them strength, love, ingenuity, and grace. Engel further includes numbered spreads depicting notable Black inventors, such as Madam CJ Walker and George Washington Carver. A strikingly worthy introduction of 400 years of Black history to young readers, including the roots of American slavery, effectively conveying that slavery is far from the extent of Black history and influence. Ages 4--8. Author's agency: Creative Artists Agency. Illustrator's agency: Morgan Gaynin. (Sept.)
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Review by School Library Journal Review
K-Gr 2--A celebration of Black excellence that highlights numerous notable figures throughout history and their accomplishments. Black history begins on the continent of Africa where their language and culture flourished. Williams covers, in picture book form, the arrival in 1619 of European slave traders who took Africans away from their homeland and stripped them of their families, their names--even their language. Thankfully, they didn't let not knowing the language of others who were enslaved deter them, and they came up with a brand-new language called Pidgin. The enslaved ancestors retained their music as a connection to Africa, an art form that would one day play an important role in their escape to freedom. People such as Robert Smalls and Harriet Tubman appear in the text; so do brilliant inventors like Benjamin Boyd and Henry Montgomery who were not allowed to take credit for their creations while others reaped the benefits. That didn't stop them and others like them from continuing to innovate. This picture book recounts different points in African American history and does so in a way that is understandable to a picture book audience without watering it down or lessening the impact. The African ancestors' resilience is awe-inspiring, and this book does an outstanding job of telling their story and honoring them. Each page spread is a piece of artwork worthy of a museum. The blend of colors and media draws readers in to appreciate every detail. VERDICT A celebration of African ancestry with enthralling artwork and a compelling and easy-to-understand story that belongs in every collection.--Myiesha Speight, formerly at Towson Univ., Baltimore
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Review by Horn Book Review
A message from the African ancestors to today's African American children. Narrated in the second person, this picture book tells African American youth an uplifting story about the many positive qualities passed down to them: "love, intellect, determination, courage, brilliance, strength, ingenuity, grace, and dignity." Countering the notion that African American history started with slavery, Williams opens with "Your story begins in Africa," and says that Africans, "the first people on the earth," lived in thriving societies, speaking many different languages, for thousands of years before slavery. The narrative progresses through their kidnapping and enslavement, their sharing music as a common language, the vital connection between literacy and freedom, and the contributions of so many who made America successful. Readers meet well-known and lesser-known historical figures, some named, others only pictured, giving young people opportunities to learn more about them all. Engel's (Rise, rev. 11/19) mixed-media illustrations, which include acrylic, collage, and printmaking on wood and paper, capture the historical settings well, while her inclusion of flowers and trees throughout symbolizes growth and the potential of the next generation. (She illustrates Africans boarding slave ships unchained and fully clothed in their cultures' colorful garb and jewelry -- perhaps to downplay the trauma of the Middle Passage.) An inspirational story that instills hope and encourages today's African American children to consider what they will give to their own descendants. Pair with recent similarly themed titles The People Remember and The 1619 Project: Born on the Water (both rev. 11/21). Michelle H. Martin January/February 2022 p.139(c) Copyright 2022. 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
This reclamation of legacy begins with African origins before the trans-Atlantic slave trade and emphasizes the strength and resilience of enslaved people. The first two spreads introduce Africa as the beginning of "your story": a continent of diverse peoples and cultures and colors where people thrived for thousands of years. Then Europeans arrived on African shores, and "your ancestors" were forcibly taken away, afraid but determined to survive. They were separated and regrouped and forced into hard labor, but they chose to love one another, to use their intellects, to share music, to courageously defy the system. Examples of their determination, brilliance, strength, and ingenuity are given in the names of specific historical figures listed on spreads that show their acts or creations in a scene--people who seized their freedom, invented things, and contributed to the American way of life. Additional spreads show more recent leaders grouped around words such as intellect, dignity, and grace. Final spreads encourage readers to receive these qualities as their ancestors' legacy and to continue that legacy by gifting equality to the next generation. Engel's paintings fairly glow with love and pride. Caregivers of Black children have struggled to introduce America's shameful history in a way that doesn't put the shame on Black people; with this thoughtful, sensitive, and beautiful volume, families can begin a difficult conversation in a nurturing way. This is a must for every Black child growing up in the Americas and will help other races and ages too. (This book was reviewed digitally.) A truly powerful perspective shift. (author's note, illustrator's note) (Picture book. 3-adult) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
