And thanks to Candlewick Press for the pleasure of reading and now sharing Rhiannon Giddens' new book, We Could Fly, a companion to Build A House. You can find that review here. Scroll to the bottom of the post for it. That book is a song that Rhiannon wrote to honor the 150th anniversary of Juneteenth.
And are you familiar with this book, a collection of American Black Folktales told by Virginia Hamilton, published in 2000? I read them aloud to my students, among other stories from other cultures and then their own stories were written, shared, and illustrated. It became a special unit of discovery.
Now, Rhiannon says in her author's note that she grew up listening to these tales, especially loved the final "magical" one where 'People Could Fly'. When working with a producer to finish her album, "Freedom Highway", they thought they needed one more song. Rhiannon shared about that favorite story and a song was born!
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| Thanks to Candlewick Press for this copy! |
A mother's child tells her she feels a tingling in her arms and her mother says that her mother, Granny Liza, felt that, too, long years ago. "Perhaps it's time. . ." and this poetic story begins as shown with ethereal illustrations by Briana Mukodiri Uchendu. Here is one example of the breathtaking beauty of this book, favorite pages of mine, followed by the song, with the book's words and illustrations on YouTube. The words in the book differ only slightly.
Poetry telling stories makes me want more! Do you have a story you'd like to tell?