Reviews

Freedom Bird: A Tale of Hope and Courage by Jerdine Nolen, James Ransome

booksonstereo_o's review against another edition

2.0

Overly poetic proses obscure an otherwise inspirational tale.

abigailbat's review against another edition

Oh, could Jerdine Nolen just sit and tell me stories all day long? I just love her writing. With rich tall-tale-like conversational tones, Nolen spins the tale of two enslaved siblings who dream of escaping as they nurse a strange injured bird back to health. Based in African American folklore, this book is a prequel to Nolen's Thunder Rose (which I also love).

sunflowerjess's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

I loved this story of a brother and sister who escape slavery and fly west, with beautiful painted illustrations. 

lara_lleverino's review against another edition

5.0

Excellent picture book folktale of a brother and sister whose parents have been sold from the plantation they are slaves on and how they survive together. Beautiful lyrical writing.

bookdragon_library's review against another edition

3.0

3.5/5 for this one. The illustrations were beautiful and very reminiscent of James Ransome’s other books like “Before she was Harriet.” The text is very poetic in nature or maybe it is the oral storytelling cadence but I think it will come across as confusing to a lot of younger readers who may pick this up as a picture book. It is very text dense so one that would take a while to read out loud and could for sure be used in middle grades. It is overall definitely an age-appropriate way to talk about slavery with young children. It makes mention of the parents being sold, a cruel plantation field head, and the brother going to a neighbor farm to work without very many graphic descriptions. He is handcuffed to the cart so the illustrations tell the story as much as the words. I do think my favorite illustration is the one where the bird has the wings open and Millicent is standing in front of it like she is flying and those are her wings. It is in the tradition of folklore and I guess is part of a series of three books but I have not read her other two connected books. I don’t know if this should be in the regular picture book section or in the folklore section since it is at not actually a folktale but just based on the tradition of African folktales and the idea of flying as a symbol. The cover is absolutely beautiful.

maidmarianlib's review

4.0

Love the oral storytelling cadence of the text, the illustrations are rich portraits

couchnest's review against another edition

3.0

This folklore-ish tale is about two children and a bird who seek freedom. Would recommend.

erine's review against another edition

4.0

I picked this up out of interest in Jerdine Nolen. Not until the end does it become clear that this story is intended to tie into [b:Thunder Rose|1667213|Thunder Rose|Jerdine Nolen|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1404782798l/1667213._SX50_.jpg|1089104] (which I've read) and [b:Big Jabe|5084515|Big Jabe|Jerdine Nolen|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1267296270l/5084515._SX50_.jpg|5151233] (which I haven't). But this one does not have the full throttle Tall Tale vibe that I found appealing in Thunder Rose: it's more of a magical realism. But some very real depictions of slavery.

I appreciated the frank portrayals of Millicent and John, whose parents are sold away and who experience daily hard labor and fear. The bird, both physically present and as a metaphor, did its job in assisting the two siblings to freedom. This was a solid standalone picture book, but I am still not sure how I feel about its connection to Thunder Rose.