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A review by etiberland
An American Story by Dare Coulter, Kwame Alexander
emotional
informative
medium-paced
5.0
I read one of the best books of 2023 in 2022, as a galley at ALA. An American Story by Kwame Alexander, illustrated by Dare Coulter, is an exceptional work of art. I can only imagine how breathtaking & brilliant this moving informational picture book is as the final book. It shows the power of a picture book to talk with readers, weaving Kwame’s precise & inquisitive poetry with Dare’s mixed-media art that compels readers to pause, ponder, & ask questions. I am eager to learn about their process to create it! Put it on your Caldecott 2023 list now.
Sparked by a conversation in Kwame’s daughter’s classroom, this book is a necessary addition to our curricula, classrooms, & collections & offers an invaluable way to have conversations about slavery. As Kwame shared during an SLJ interview, “I tried to write this book so it would carry the weight that's necessary to lift our kids out of ignorance when it comes to the history of our country. Teachers, librarians, parents: All you have do is read the story. Literally, just read the story. Stop every few pages, or stop when you get to the points in the book where the students ask questions of the teacher & let your students ask questions. This book is a teaching tool. I wanted it to be engaging and educational, informational & inspirational. Let the book do the heavy lifting, & just read it to your kids, read it with your students. And be open to the discussion, because the book is really about a teacher who doesn't know how to teach slavery. And that is an issue we all face—parents, teachers, librarians, all of us—at some time or another.”
As Kwame wrote in A Note from the Author, “I believe An American Story can help give us a way to speak the truth to children, so we can all stop being afraid, so we can start moving closer to our better selves.”
The final pages read:
“How do you tell a story this hard to hear, one that hurts and still loves?
"You do it by being brave enough
to lift your voice,
by holding
history
in one hand
and clenching
hope
in the other."
An absolutely vital and necessary purchase for all collections.
Sparked by a conversation in Kwame’s daughter’s classroom, this book is a necessary addition to our curricula, classrooms, & collections & offers an invaluable way to have conversations about slavery. As Kwame shared during an SLJ interview, “I tried to write this book so it would carry the weight that's necessary to lift our kids out of ignorance when it comes to the history of our country. Teachers, librarians, parents: All you have do is read the story. Literally, just read the story. Stop every few pages, or stop when you get to the points in the book where the students ask questions of the teacher & let your students ask questions. This book is a teaching tool. I wanted it to be engaging and educational, informational & inspirational. Let the book do the heavy lifting, & just read it to your kids, read it with your students. And be open to the discussion, because the book is really about a teacher who doesn't know how to teach slavery. And that is an issue we all face—parents, teachers, librarians, all of us—at some time or another.”
As Kwame wrote in A Note from the Author, “I believe An American Story can help give us a way to speak the truth to children, so we can all stop being afraid, so we can start moving closer to our better selves.”
The final pages read:
“How do you tell a story this hard to hear, one that hurts and still loves?
"You do it by being brave enough
to lift your voice,
by holding
history
in one hand
and clenching
hope
in the other."
An absolutely vital and necessary purchase for all collections.