Review by Booklist Review
Start this book at the back, where there's a QR code to scan. As you listen to the powerful, plaintive strains of Giddens' voice, accompanied by Yo-Yo Ma on the cello as they perform Build a House, turn the pages and follow the story in the illustrations. The lyrics are deceptively simple, with layers of history rippled through each verse. They tell the story of enslaved people brought to this land to build for the slavers. The illustrations depict a small African American family (parents and child) being forced to build and move over and over until they finally find a safe place. The child carries a plant with her, and its growth represents her growth, as well as the strength of her people, ultimately depicted as a strong, beautiful tree that "will not be moved." Build a House is brimming with energy, simultaneously placid and raging. The book is straightforward enough to read (or sing) with young children, complex enough to analyze with older ones. Note the facial expressions and postures that complement the lyrics.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Originally released in 2020 to honor Juneteenth's 155th anniversary, the lines of this song, now a picture book debut by Giddens, invoke the storied heritage of African American music, discussing Black chattel slavery in America. Mikai's textured digital illustrations follow the text as a Black family of three is forced to build a house and work farmland for those who "brought me here." Subsequently told to "GO," the family is soon denied the chance to make a place for themselves when the home they build is burned down--an act of violence that precedes another home's construction. Throughout, images lend emotional gravity to reiterative verse ("I learned your words/ And wrote my song/ Wrote my song/ Wrote my song"), marking a contrast between the ample bounty the family is forced to create and the oppression that makes that bounty possible, in a story of freedom stolen and home long sought. An afterword and QR code to the recorded song conclude. Ages 7--10. (Oct.)
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Review by Horn Book Review
In near-singable text, musician Giddens (co-founder of the Carolina Chocolate Drops band) brings to life a lyrical tale of Black trials, triumphs, determination, and home. A Black father, mother, and daughter ride in a horse-drawn wagon driven by a white man. The text begins: "You brought me here / To build your house...And grow your garden / Fine," and then once the house is standing and the cotton ripens, the white man tells the family, "GO." They build a house for themselves -- "but you said I couldn't / Build a house / And so you burnt it... / DOWN." The family remains united and determined through these violent setbacks and makes music together, the mother playing banjo and the father violin, but white people even steal their song. Finally, they rebuild on their own land; the daughter becomes the narrator and echoes her parents' words, now defiantly her own: "You brought me here / To build a house / And I will not be moved." Mikai's warm-toned digital illustrations, awash in blues, greens, and browns, portray the family members' closeness to the land and their steadfast commitment to land ownership -- also emphasized by the girl's carrying a young sapling she'd planted from a seed everywhere they go. In the end, her tree's leaves and branches span a joyous double-page spread. An afterword describes the story's autobiographical roots ("I am proud to be a banjo-playing descendent of the Afro-Carolinians who, against all odds, made a culture and built a home and survived, so I could thrive") and directs readers to an online recording performed with Yo-Yo Ma to commemorate Juneteenth. Michelle H. Martin September/October 2022 p.57(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
Giddens' song commemorating the 155th anniversary of Juneteenth is adapted into a picture book centering history and resilience. Written in second person, the story begins "You brought me here / to build your house" and depicts a Black family joining enslaved Black laborers in a field, transported and supervised by a White person. The family helps the others lay bricks and pick cotton until they are sent away, with the White person gesturing for them to leave ("you told me… // GO"). Against a backdrop of green fields and blue mountains, the family finds "a place / To build my house," enjoying freedom, until "you said I couldn't / Build a house / And so you burnt it…// DOWN." Beside the ashes, the family writes a song; images depict instruments and musical notes being pulled from the family; and another illustration shows White people dancing and playing. The family travels "far and wide" and finds a new place where they can write a song and "put my story down." Instruments in hand, the family establishes itself once again in the land. This deeply moving portrait of the push and pull of history is made concrete through Mikai's art, which features bright green landscapes, expressive faces, and ultimately hopeful compositions. Giddens' powerful, spare poetry, spanning centuries of American history, is breathtaking. Readers who discover her music through this book and the online recording (included as a QR code) will be forever glad they picked up this book. (This book was reviewed digitally.) A stunning, honest, yet age-appropriate depiction of historical injustice. (afterword) (Picture book. 4-8) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
