A Leader For All Time: Paul ROBESON: OUTSPOKEN

 Added bonus: Teaching Guide from Candlewick! CLICK HERE.

If the name PAUL ROBESON elicits a nod of recognition, you may be closer to my generation than to that of digital natives. A new picture book biography goes a long way to revealing a hero and icon who could inspire them to greatness on many fronts to upcoming generations. As I think of the life of PAUL ROBESON as it might have played out in a time of widely-shared information I can easily imagine countless schools, auditoriums, and other monuments to his greatness that would sustain him in public awareness for all generations, for all time.

Candlewick, 2024

OUTSPOKEN- PAUL ROBESON, Ahead of His Time: A one-man Show, is written by the incomparable Carole Boston Weatherford and illustrated by Eric Velasquez. Those who are familiar with even part of Robeson's life and career will appreciate this beautifully elaborated portrait of his remarkable life and accomplishments. Everything about this book is exceptional, including the quantity of text, the gloriously detailed and revealing illustrations, the lyrical quality of the first person narrative, and the sense of the immediate presence of Robeson on the page, despite his absence from our physical world since his death in 1976. This account makes clear that the impact of his life resonates even today, whether we know of him or not.

I am generally skeptical of using first person voice in biographic presentations. It is rare that direct quotes can sustain a full accounting in those attempts. Without that validation, assuming the "I" voice for someone else gives me pause. And yet...in Weatherford's capable and respected hands, I trust the approach entirely and feel it serves an immeasurable contribution in producing that sense of Robeson speaking directly to readers on the page. Her channeling of his voice makes this a book worth reading for adults, too.

This book is also unusual in its length (48 pages, including useful and informative back matter, timeline, etc.) large format, high word count, and inclusion of personal elements throughout Robeson's complex and accomplished life. Each stage of his life is explored through  free verse poems or prose, utilizing lyrics of songs, repeated phrases and themes, and lyrical language. Beginning with reflections on the heritage of his ancestry (resistance and intelligence, from his enslaved forerunners), carrying through his childhood and every phase of life, the poems and narrative are superb individually and as a compilation of life-story. Each poem across several pages includes majestic, informative images, full-page and spot illustrations, to provide readers with a sense of the time, place, and emotional drama of these Robeson-voiced depictions. The effects of text and illustration together are powerful and moving, with an undeniable reflection of the dignity of the man.

I'll admit my awareness of him was limited to his career as an incomparable singer, a man whose experiences with injustice and assault to his dignity led to living in Europe to experience a higher degree of equality than could be found in this country. Over the years, I learned more through studies of the Civil Rights Movement, Black History Month programs, and some PBS documentary coverage over the years. Even so, none of those scratched the surface of this man's complicated life and layered accomplishments. While I held a deep respect for the man I thought I knew, nothing prepared me for the miracle of this impressive treatment. Weatherford's and Velasquez's deep research and thoughtful structuring of the book and its total design allowed me to know and appreciate Robeson more fully. I believe the same will be true for readers across many ages, with late elementary through middle grade audiences as its target audience. 

The public and private treatment Robeson faced in this country (as was true for most non-white people) throughout his life limited the degree of his contemporary fame and success. Nevertheless, he lived his life and shared his talents, intellects and leadership. That's not to say that residual impacts of those discriminatory patterns have disappeared. I am left with a sense of loss of the ways in which his life might have further enriched all of us, cementing him within our culture for all time. This book is so thorough and powerful that I feel my hope restored, imagining that the life of Robeson will rise in public awareness and, just possibly, elevate him to the honors and cultural appreciation he deserves in the generations to come. His life is a legacy and deserves to be appreciated by all of us.

Thank you to the publishers for sharing a very helpful teaching guide to encourage use of this book in the classroom. Be sure to click and check it out!

Nonfiction Notable: A SONG FOR THE UNSUNG

I continue to read picture books extensively while enjoying the many beginning readers  and early chapter books I've been exploring for CYBILS AWARD consideration.  Some picture books are guaranteed to snag my attention due to the subject matter, the reliably high quality of the author and/or illustrator, and my own connections to prior readings and/or postings. This nonfiction biographic account of BAYARD RUSTIN is such a book on all strands of that appeal. 

Henry Holt & Company, 2023

A SONG FOR THE UNSUNG: BAYARD RUSTIN, the Man behind the 1963 March on Washington did not disappoint. This is written by multi-award-winning Carole Boston Weatherford and LGBTQIA advocate Rob Sanders, with impressively informative illustrations by Byron McCray. In an earlier post featuring another picture book focused on the 1963 March on Washington, here, I also featured a book aimed at older readers, one that profiled the largely unrecognized CIVIL RIGHTS leaded, Bayard Rustin. (That book is one of the sources cited in the bibliography for A SONG FOR THE UNSUNG.)

The title alone is brilliant, because it signals that Rustin was a talented and devoted singer for whom music played a central role throughout his life. The same can be said about the role of music in the Civil Rights Movement. Threaded throughout each double spread are scrolled lyrics from many different hymns/songs that reflect specific moments throughout his life and his role in the shaping of that movement. This includes the fact that Rustin's roots run deep in Quaker peace activism, including refusing to bear arms during WWII and his consequent imprisonment. 

The authors open on the eventful August day in 1963 with Rustin's perspective of the Washington mall, empty other than himself and a few reporters. His confident assertion that this unprecedented event would happen, would succeed, contrasts with the absence of evidence at that early morning moment. And yet Rustin, the organizer/coordinator behind the scenes, stood tall and sure. he had orchestrated every detail, from placement of portable potties to bus parking  to box lunches and the program itself. 

Each page turn that offers incredible details about his development of the strength and skill and talent that underpinned such confidence. As a relative "elder" in comparison to young Martin Luther King, Jr., his experiences with adherence to non-violent strategies for social change were rooted in studies with Gandhi and led to his later instruction and guidance for MLK,Jr. and the entire movement. 

An essential (and never denied or hidden) aspect of his identity is that he was a gay man. Thankfully, and despite immeasurable forces still attempting to discriminate against non-straight individuals and organizations, we have arrived at a time of greater openness and awareness that people are people and their sexual lives are not a matter of public concern. This was far from the case at the time of Rustin's life, making his willingness to be "out of the closet" another bold and honest example of his personal integrity. This fact, though, accounts for why so few folks know his name in comparison to others from those Civil Rights Movement years in the sixties. It was deemed necessary and advantageous to access Rustin's organization skills and network contacts to make a gathering of a quarter million people possible, yet leaders within the movement insisted that his public role should be minimal, fearing that his gay identity could undermine and detract from the greater goals. 

Very likely they were correct. Even so, it meant that Rustin's long history, credentials, and support of equal rights and social justice remained "appreciated" by insiders but "unsung" in the public accounts of this history-changing day and the entire movement surrounding it. There is no justice in that, at any level. Now, more than sixty years later, young people can access Rustin's life story through works for older readers but also through this gorgeous, dynamic, and lyrical account of a man who merits everyone's attention and admiration. 

I had some limited awareness of this remarkable figure in American history as a young person who viewed the march and speeches live on television, awed by the safe, civil, overwhelmingly effective gathering at our nation's capital at a time when few were willing to speak aloud the need for legal civil rights for all in a public venue. (My reflection on why CIVIL RIGHTS and the movement mean so much to me can be read an early post on that topic, HERE. Equality for all SHOULD connect with everyone, even a straight, white, privileged woman such as myself. And yet my connection to the subject matter runs deep, and I wish more folks would examine their own lives to see that success on behalf of the least protected among us elevates the quality of life for us all.)

I fear, though, that this very title will be among the extensive and absurd lists of books for kids that face censorship due to both aspects of his Rustin's life story: being Black and being gay. Please learn more about that misguided group that is comparatively small in numbers but powerful in political clout. Make it a point to read any books on the list for yourselves and then speak up for open access and rights to read! (For more on that topic, THIS LINK is from the American Library Association.)

THREE-for-0ne-Reviews: Exploring Justice and History

Bushel and Peck Books. 2023

 The first of these three featured recent picture book titles offers a tree-mendous way to introduce significant global history to young readers through their connection with trees that might have borne witness to the moments in those significant events. It is a grand intention that is executed really well. THE WITNESS TREES: Historic Moments and the Trees Who Watched Them Happen is written by Ryan G. Van Cleave and illustrated by (new to me) Dom Dom. 

Side note, but not an unimportant one, this publishing company dedicates its work to youth literacy and has pledged that for each book purchased they will donate a book to children in need. 

Van Cleave is a poet by career, as well as helping celebrities to write and revise picture book text for children. In this case he has written through the voice of "celebrities" we can all respect, the various trees that  have stood watch on human history over time. His precise, unrhymed-but-lyrical main text assumes the voices of trees (r descendants of trees) to provide objective insights to the ways in which human events and decisions have taken place. One line on the opening spread that reveals that voice well is this:

"Our roots run deep--/ they grip history/ a restless forever."

In addition, double spreads featuring specific moments in history, like the one below, provide brief smaller -font passages about the event pictured. This first one suggests King john of England conducting an emergency session of parliament  under a massive thousand-year-old oak in nSherwood Forest in the year 1212.

The times and places are not chronological nor dothey trace a geographic path around the globe. Ranging widely, including scenes off Gettysburg, Anne Frank in hiding, Hiroshima, the 9/11 attack, and so many more. A few pages at the back provide concise notes about each species of tree noted, and the endpapers include even more valuable content. Opening endpapers feature a global map with icons for each tree/passage, with a map key naming the type of tree and whether the original tee(s) are still there it only their descendants. The closing endpapers include a timeline, bibliography, and brief notes about the dangers to existing trees from climate change or direct human intervention. I highly recommend this book for young readers and the adults in their lives.

HARPER/Imprint of HARPER COLLINS PUBLISHERS, 2023

Next up is THAT FLAG, but it's not the one you might assume. Author Tameka Fryer Brown and illustrator Nikkolas Smith provide a message on the title page: "We hope the words and images in this story foster transformative conversations that lead to change."

"This story" features neighbor/best firiend/almost twins Keira and Bianca, pictured on the cover. Kera, the Black friend, is allowed to interact in every place except Bianca's home, where a confederate flag flies. Keira's mom calls it a hate flag, but Bianca insists tthat it is a heritage flag. 

I will not subvert any more of this well-told and powerful story by providing further details or summarizing. Please, though, trust my recommendation that this story about this seldom-presented contemporary issue is worthy of everyone's time, of any age. Classrooms, libraries, homes, clubs,msports teams, and in every imaginable situation calls out to you to share and launch these discussions that the creators request.

CANDLEWICK BOOKS, 2023

The final book ion this post is certainly last, but not least. This soon-to-be-classic account about talent and injustice will resonate with anyone, school age or adult, who has ever attempted to take part in a spelling bee. Veteran poet/author and illustrator, Carol Boston Weatherford and Frank Morrison respectively, have provided a historically accurate account in How Do You Spell Unfair?: Macnolia Cox and the National Spelling Bee. This important and little-known story rises to the level of classic storytelling in their masterful hands. With each word and visual detail revealing layered aspects of the time, place, events, and emotional power of this, somehow recalling to me the dignity and bravery that resonate on every page of the original picture book  on the topic, THE STORY of  RUBY BRIDGES, written by poet Robert Coles and illustrated by George Ford. Macnolia Cox deserves to become as well known for her role in breaking barriers as Ruby does, not competing for a spotlight of awareness but expanding that general public attention by magnitudes. Please take my advice and read this new release, soon, with attention to the front matter and back matter, as well as to every element on every page. History comes alive there, and it is a story we ALL should know. Learn it, then share it, gift item talk about it with young and old.