No, it's not the brutal midwest snow that has me sharing a JUNETEENTH picture book on February first. And it's not (only) due to this being the first day of BLACK HISTORY MONTH, a recognition of our full history as colonies and, eventually, as a nation, as steeped in Black history as it is in any-and-all verifiable facts. (If you are new to this blog, you can read my thoughts on theme months in a very early post, HERE. In fact, with current efforts to suppress aspects of our country's history that do not comport with a white-only perspective, I am now advocating for robust monthly themes that are sustained throughout the calendar and academic year.)
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CLARION BOOKS, 2025
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SO MANY YEARS: A Juneteenth Story features words by Anne Wynter and illustrations by Jerome Pumphrey. It was this week's ALA awards ceremony that prompted me to bump this one forward on my schedule. No, it did not snag one of those shiny medals, although its many starred and rave reviews had led me to hope it would.
In fact, I was rooting for the Caldecott category, which celebrates picture books that superbly execute the role of those various and sundry pages of pictures, i.e....
... that illustrations are not "matching:" the words but should be doing heavy lifting in storytelling, mood and tone-setting, in clarifying background and essential information, and in illuminating words that are necessarily minimal so that they shine and shimmer in our hearts.
it remains to be seen if Juneteenth, having finally achieved status as a national holiday, will continue as such under the current government trends. It should. It does, in fact, recognize that post-Civil-War government emancipation news was suppressed for two years or more in Texas.
The text of this glorious book is, as mentioned above, minimal, although back matter and supplementary text are provided. The brief lyrical phrases adopt a Q&A approach, putting readers into the mindset of those who would receive such news, eventually, and recognize a need for, and right, to celebrate. And yet,
"How would you dress
after so many years
of mending your clothes with rags"
At midpoint, the questions are simply answered with "Oh, how you would dress..." and eat and sing and otherwise embrace the reality you always knew to be true-- that you were human, not property, that right was right, and that all this was finally recognized as truth.
It's text like this that astounds me and puzzles me as a writer. Each word is precisely, exactly, upliftingly the exact choice, phrasing, and pacing to suit such a profound account. It opens minds to actual and difficult history for those whose heritage lies on either side of the injustices revealed. It carries readers of any background into the depth of joy and relief that freedom provided. The puzzle I experience has to do with how many (or few) art notes were included in the text-only submission. Just to say, there are countless collaborations among the editor, illustrator, and art director, occasionally including the author, during the process of developing and producing a picture book. But in this case the end result feels as if a single entity accomplished everything. The vibrantly sunny endpapers confirm immediately that this is a joyful tale, and the framing of the history prior to/after the Juneteenth announcement is developed brilliantly.
Let it be said the illustrator Jerome Pumphrey is half of the acclaimed PUMPHREY brothers creative team whose work has received awards in the past and will continue to do so (I confidently assert). Some have been reviewed HERE, and HERE. In the first half, facing pages illustrate the questions posed by presenting dramatically black-toned reflections of painful enslavement history while the images on the right are saturated, light-infused scenes of family celebrations and satisfying feasts. The stylized historic scenes reveal reality, harsh truths, while allowing the freedom-story contrasts and ensuing scenes provide faces, gfigures, features, fashions, and fun that humans (once free) can experience and convey.
I adore this book and hope that you will seek it out and consider the images and text. Carefully. With care. Fully. It is a worthy and entertaining and uplifting book that shares history in a creative, lyrical way. No doubt I'll link back to it in future posts for the coming Juneteenth Day. Please, though, consider it several times through and discuss it with young people. bring nut the reality that a government can attempt to do good but meet resistance. Just as governments can operate outside the law,mor impose illegitimate laws ands rules, but be met with resistance. Share it and discuss it with kids growing up in our media-saturated world, kids who are bombarded with horrific images and words, kids who wonder if our country is falling apart. That means all kids. It matters that they hear about ways in which our country has fractured and attacked itself in the past, that healing is possible, that the timing is rarely what we would wish, and that individual people play a role.
And seize this BLACK HISTORY MONTH to put ALL stories of history into the hands and hearts of ALL young people, including those of any background. Everyone can feel empathy, none need to feel personally guilty, but ALL can feel responsible for building a better present and future.
Please.
