Starred review from October 15, 2024
Grades 1-4 *Starred Review* In this original picture book, a girl thinks about spirituals. Each double-page spread features her comments, several lines from a spiritual, and an illustration that reflects the tone of the lyrics and music. While most scenes focus on the girl in various contemporary settings, others represent other Black people in the present or in America's past. The free-verse text conveys the girl's thoughts, memories, and emotions as she thinks about spirituals' power to inspire people, including herself. As she says, "Spirituals speak / to something tender / and gentle / and reverent, / and 'sho 'nuff' / and 'can-do' / and so strong / inside of me." Hudson, who remembers spirituals from her childhood and has sung them in choirs, is surely writing from the heart in this lively picture book. Readers fortunate enough to have heard and sung spirituals as children will feel at home, with their memories providing a soundtrack of one song after another. Created with acrylic paint, colored pencils, cut paper, and tissue paper, the illustrations are expressive and colorful. In an appended note, Hudson offers a history of spirituals' development, from their African roots to the 2007 passage of a U.S. Congressional bill recognizing spirituals as "a national treasure." A personal tribute to a beloved American art form.
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Starred review from December 1, 2024
An exuberant and picturesque celebration of African American spirituals. A Black child with dark skin and an Afro puff waxes rhapsodic about spirituals in free verse, while choruses from relevant songs accompany the youngster's words. Sometimes the narrator feels mournful while listening to the music, and "a big lump / Gets stuck / In my throat." The chorus from "Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen" appears. But this music can be healing, too; here, Hudson includes an excerpt from "There Is a Balm in Gilead." And sometimes the music moves the young protagonist to "stomp my feet" and "sway to the beat"; the opposite page presents the chorus from "Bosom of Abraham." Pairing beautifully with the well-chosen lyrics and Hudson's rhythmic, affirming text, Ladd's richly saturated mixed-media illustrations demonstrate the cultural and historical importance of these songs. Churchgoers lift their hands in praise, Harriet Tubman leads her people to freedom, and Martin Luther King Jr., Coretta Scott King, and John Lewis raise their voices in protest. The use of cut paper gives the artwork a heavily textured look; emotion feels carved into every spread. Thorough backmatter discusses how spirituals have allowed Black Americans to forge an identity and chronicle their history; Hudson also expands on the people and events depicted in the illustrations. A deeply resonant work that speaks to these songs' historical--and present--meaning. (author's note, glossary, bibliography)(Informational picture book. 6-10)
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Starred review from November 11, 2024
Willis Hudson movingly exalts the power of African American spirituals in a lyrics showcase that pairs existing verses with feelings they can evoke. On the first page, a Black child watching doves circle narrates on the verso: “When I hear spirituals,/ Sometimes,/ A big, full feeling/ Grows in my chest.” The recto, meanwhile, supplies italicized lyrics: “Over my head, I hear music in the air.” A page later, a Black adult in a pew bows their head, “A big lump/... stuck/ In my throat,” while lyrics read, “Nobody knows the trouble I’ve seen.” Other spreads foreground a church congregation raising their hands in worship, a child dancing in a white dress, and Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King marching in a crowd, mixing historical scenes with everyday vignettes. Ladd’s ethereal acrylic, colored pencil, and cut paper illustrations render each characters’ heartfelt emotions visible, while personal-feeling text underlines how “spirituals speak/ To something tender/ And gentle/ And reverent/ And ‘sho’nuff’/ And ‘can-do’/ Inside of me.” Back matter includes an author’s note and glossary. Ages 6–9.
Starred review from December 13, 2024
PreS-Gr 4-Awash in glorious color, this title celebrates the power, history, and strength that African American spirituals have had, and continue to have, to lift and support people of all ages. Each spread, illustrated in acrylics, cut paper, tissue paper, and colored pencil, highlights a specific spiritual and the impact of that song across time and in a variety of historical and contemporary settings. For example, a young girl dressed in a long white dress wants to share her "uh-huh" feelings, and the lyrics to "Rock-a My Soul" are paired with the young girl's swirling form. While not all readers will be familiar with the spirituals mentioned, most will find deep appreciation for the many ways that these songs have provided strength and connection throughout history to uplift a community that perseveres and flourishes in the face of many challenges. The book would make a wonderful introduction to the genre of spirituals, encouraging further investigation or in conjunction with studies of Black history. Back matter includes historical notes and resources pointing to online recordings of the various spirituals highlighted. VERDICT No matter the level of reader familiarity with spirituals, this title brims with lyricism and soul-lifting strength through its emotional illustrations and compelling text.-John Scott
Copyright 2025 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
March 1, 2025
Hudson introduces young readers to the African American spiritual through descriptions of a young girl's emotions and associations accompanied by relevant spiritual verses. "When I hear spirituals, / They make me proud / To think of the strength / Our people have always had" is matched with an excerpt from the spiritual "Oh, Freedom," while the art shows enslaved people engaging in a historical uprising. As the girl remembers the civil rights movement, the text reads, "When I hear spirituals, / ...I sing with freedom fighters / I stand straight-shouldered with ancestors," and is accompanied by a chorus from "Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho" and a painting of a civil rights march. Other images include a church congregation, praise dancers, a riverbank baptism, and a train heading north during the Great Migration ("Get on board, little children"). Hudson's illuminating text and Ladd's expressive double-page spreads rendered in acrylic, colored pencil, and cut paper capture each aspect of the spirituals devoutly and respectfully. Extensive back matter includes an author's note, a glossary, and a list of resources. Pauletta Brown Bracy
(Copyright 2025 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)