Maleah O'Neal: First Book Reviews

For my review, I wanted to focus on picture books that identified with the African American culture. African American-cultured books tend to be written by African American authors, have black characters, and are created around a particular aspect or common experience African Americans have endured.

The Secret Olivia Told Me, N. Joy

Joy, N. (2007). The Secret Olivia Told Me. East Orange, NJ: Just Us Books.

The Secret Olivia Told Me by N. Joy, is a picture book written for elementary-aged children. It depicts what may happen when a secret cannot be kept, and how the message of the secret can be discombobulated into something that it is not. It is a Coretta Scott King Award- winning book, and contains a valuable moral lesson.

I consider this book to be an African American-cultured reading because the main characters are African American. The plot of the story is not based on a cultural experience, but many African American children may enjoy the book because they can physically identify with some of the characters.

The design and illustrations of the book are very interesting to me. The characters have visible features of a human, but everyone appears in the color black. One can make out each characters hair style, face and expressions and style. The reader can distinguish the race of each character, but I believe the author was trying to stress that the race of the characters were unimportant. The background of each picture is also in black and white, except for the red balloon, which is hypothetically the message or “secret” being passed around. I enjoy the way the illustrations are designed to represent the message of the story- because the “secret is in red, and everything else in the book is in black and white, the colors stress the importance of the characters keeping certain messages private from their peers. This is an excellent way to display this moral to the targeted age group because it productively teaches children the importance of secrecy in a fun, and interesting manner.

Running the Road to ABC, Denize Lauture

Lauture, D., & Ruffins, R. (1996). Running the road to ABC. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers.

Running the Road to ABC vibrantly describes the details of its plot using poetic and intriguing verbs, and adjectives to express simple nouns. For example, “They run over the sweet-potato mounds like fish dancing with the sea waves” (Lauture, 1996). The book energetically expresses a group of young children’s morning trip to the schoolhouse. This would be a fun read for elementary- aged children, as a free-time reading, or a group reading with a teacher. The story is poetically written, and could assist in teaching children the aspects of creative and fictional writing. I love the title because it details the story in a short, creative sentence (“Running the Road”  the trip taken to; “ABC”  the schoolhouse).

Running the Road to ABC is culture-inspired mainly through the illustrations and plot of the story. The pictures are soulful and depict scenery of crop farms, portraying an older African community.

Tree of Hope, Amy Littlesugar

Littlesugar, A., & Cooper, F. (1999). Tree of hope. New York, NY: Philomel Books.

This is a reading for older elementary-aged children, probably best for fourth and fifth grade students. It would also be a good read for sixth grade students. The story is based around the time of the Great Depression, depicting the lifestyle of Harlem residents in the 1930s. The author bases the plot around a play, Macbeth, written by Shakespeare, but in the book, she puts a cultural, African American spin on it. There is strong reference to racial issues that were prominent in that era. The tree in the story is symbolic for dreams and hope. It was used for Florrie and her father to make wishes during the hard times of the Great Depression.

This book would be perfect to open a discussion about the Great Depression, and segregation. I consider this book to be culturally written and illustrated because of the African American characters and the theme and plot of the story. I enjoyed the pictures because the style of clothing, hair and choice of words perfectly depicts the style of the 1930s. 

Keisha Ann Can! By Daniel Kirk


Kirk, D. (2008). Keisha Ann can! New York, NY: G. P. Putnam's Sons.

Keisha Ann Can! Is a great reading for students who are learning to be productive and successful throughout the school day. I would recommend this book for preschool- and kindergarten- aged students. Keisha Ann, the main character, can count, spell, clean up, eat lunch, nap, and more, with confidence, and while learning. This is an inspirational reading that teachers could use to assist in teaching children to be successful in the classroom, throughout the school day. The pictures are fun and energetic, illustrated with bright colors and realistic, human characters. This book would also be great for beginning readers because the text throughout the book is short and brief, but the vocabulary used is important for a student to know (ex: “lunch”, “classroom”, “pencils”, etc.) I would use this book to teach my students or children the importance of performing well in school, and how it can be fun and exciting at the same time.

This book is culturally inspired because the main character is African American. African American students, particularly young girls, can experience self-efficacy- evaluating how well they could perform a particular action, because they identify with the character. Children can identify with the success the character is experiencing in school because they are familiar with the physical aspect of the character, and may be able to successfully apply it to their own lives.

This Little Light of Mine illustrated by E.B. Lewis
 
Lewis, E. B. (2005). This little light of mine. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers.


This Little Light of Mine identifies greatly as an African American-cultured book. The text of the book is an African American spiritual that dates back to the days of slavery. The illustrations tell a story of a young African American boy having a good day, no matter the trials or tribulations put in his way. The author applies each individual line to a picture of the boy enduring in various events throughout the day- helping the elderly, playing with other children in the neighborhood, and even eating dinner. This book would be a good read for students during free-time, and when teaching the lesson of staying positive. My Mother read this book to me while growing up, and I always wanted to be happy just as the main character was in the book. He kept a smile on his face no matter what was going on throughout the day, and I mimicked this action because the book portrays him staying happy. “This little light of mine” is referring to the happiness of the character, and “I’m going to let it shine” refers to staying positive and happy no matter what issues one may experience. This is a great story for discussing this moral during a group reading session, or for an assignment of analyzing the main themes in the book.