Review by Booklist Review
A Black child from the South Carolina Sea Islands imagines another "girl like me," living an ocean away. Reflective musings comprise the lyrical text: "I wonder if that girl across the sea / likes coconut water or sweet iced tea? Does her grandma, like mine, sit close beside her, / telling bedtime stories about Anansi the Spider?" The delightful descriptions of the children's vibrant everyday experiences, such as running in the sand, tasting raindrops, and falling asleep to music, appeal to all the senses. Cunha's richly atmospheric, stunning digital illustrations capture the parallel experiences of geographically separate but intrinsically linked communities. Many connections are found in the warmly hued double-page spreads, like the similar dresses the girls wear (one white, the other indigo), and the moon shining above both their homes. An author's endnote offers information on Gullah Geechee culture in South Carolina and Sierra Leone. Full of meaningful relationships, this picture book is a joyous, loving celebration of the African diaspora around the globe.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Two Black girls play on the beaches of their respective island homes, each imagining there's another just like themselves: "Every morning at day-clean,/ I wonder if somewhere there's a girl like me,// who spends every day beside the sea." One girl wades into the surf to talk to birds and leaps across the sand on the beach; the other seeks out sweetgrass to weave baskets and listens to the ocean in a seashell. Both wonder all the while, "Is there a girl across the sea who imagines me?" An author's note contextualizes this story from Johnson (H Is for Harlem), which, via images of two girls leading similar lives an ocean apart, draws parallels between members of the African diaspora: "Communities in the United States and Sierra Leone have discovered all that they still share." Saturated, layered art by Cunha (Fly) employs visible textures to add depth to each illustration. In concert with playful, dreamlike prose, which details events over the course of a given day, motion-filled landscapes offer images "of the two of us playing/ in the same sun/ in the same sand,/ hand in hand." Ages 4--8. (Oct.)
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Review by Horn Book Review
Johnson's "love song to the Sea Islands [and] my African friends" opens with a young Black girl running along the beach at "day-clean," the Gullah/Geechee phrase for dawn. Cunha's illustrations capture the oranges and blues of the early morning sky and the brilliant blue of the sea. The second spread shows another Black girl across the sea also greeting the morning. The two girls, while separated by an ocean, have much in common, as shown in Cunha's textured, colorful illustrations and Johnson's engaging text. Throughout the day, each plays with friends on the beach, listens to stories about Anansi the spider, and makes a basket out of sweetgrass. In an appended author's note, Johnson explains that the Gullah/Geechee people are descendants of enslaved Africans who have maintained many aspects of their African culture, and that the Sea Islands along the coast of South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida have been home to them. Through the story, young readers learn about the islands and some of their language and traditions while experiencing the beauty of connection. This story pairs well with Royce's middle-grade novel Root Magic (rev. 3/21), which is also set in the Sea Islands; as well as Hamilton's The People Could Fly, which retells many of the folktales told by Africans throughout the diaspora. Nicholl Denice Montgomery September/October 2022 p.62(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
A Gullah child goes about a busy day. At daybreak (or day-clean in Gullah), the young Black girl glories in the sunrise over the sandy beach and wonders if there might be another girl like her somewhere "who spends every day beside the sea." From here, an entire day of reflection steadily unspools. Could another girl also be flying along the sand or looking for sweetgrass? Does she eat the same foods or know the same stories? Can she catch rain on her tongue or hear music in the air? Does that girl fall asleep under the same moon and also dream of a girl like herself? Johnson weaves a deceptively simple poem that interlaces distinct slices of Gullah Geechee life with cultural threads that stretch to the Caribbean, Brazil, and all the way to Sierra Leone. Cunha's illustrations capture a landscape that is as real as it is a dream, as momentous as it is mundane. Vibrant pastels are rendered into soft, open spreads, drawing readers into an intimate world that visually is reaching for its counterpart and into a story space that is most certainly big enough for two as it alternates between the protagonist and the girl she imagines. Fans of Barbara Lehman's The Red Book (2004) will find similar play with reflection and wall-breaking here as well as that insistent tug at the idea of connection. Seasoned readers will also find some wonderful cultural context in the author's note. (This book was reviewed digitally.) Striking and cozy all at once. (Picture book. 3-7) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
