corncobwebs 's review for:

Harlem Renaissance Party by Faith Ringgold

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I remember learning about Faith Ringgold in my art history classes in college, so this book made me feel like two distinct parts of my life were colliding! Speaking of colliding, I felt like this book was kind of a mess is some ways. Like Jason, I wondered why Lonnie was depicted as white. My best guess is that Ringgold was trying to communicate that being black can encompass a wide range of skin tones...but did she have to make him look so...Irish? It just didn't really make a lot of sense to me, and there was no explanatory note. Also -- I think the Harlem Renaissance provides a wealth of material for engaging, imaginative, & informative children's books. But the writing in this book gave it the feeling of taking something that's not interesting and trying to make it fun: "Let's fly on a plane into the past and have really short and insubstantial interactions with Josephine Baker! And Langston Hughes! And Marcus Garvey!" In other words, I felt like Ringgold took an idea with a lot of potential to be something creative and engaging, and made it into something that felt like sitting through an uninspiring lesson. It's a "No thanks" on this one for me!