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Searching... Stillwater Public Library | E 921 TRUTH | Searching... Unknown |
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Summary
Summary
Born into slavery, Belle had to endure the cruelty of several masters before she escaped to freedom. But she knew she wouldn't really be free unless she was helping to end injustice. That's when she changed her name to Sojourner and began traveling across the country, demanding equal rights for black people and for women. Many people weren't ready for her message, but Sojourner was brave, and her truth was powerful. And slowly, but surely as Sojourner's step-stomp stride, America began to change.
Author Notes
Andrea Davis Pinkney and Brian Pinkney have collaborated on several award-winning picture books, including Duke Ellington: The Piano Prince and His Orchestra and Ella Fitzgerald: The Tale of a Vocal Virtuosa . They live in Brooklyn, New York.
Brian Pinkney is the illustrator of many acclaimed books for children, including the Caldecott Honor Books Duke Ellington and The Faithful Friend , and the Coretta Scott King Award winner In the Time of the Drums .
Reviews (6)
Publisher's Weekly Review
The team behind the Caldecott Honor book Duke Ellington offers a rousing biography of this indefatigable abolitionist, born a slave. Her parents gave their baby the name Belle: "Seems her newborn's cry was ringing in good news. Nothing quiet about that girl." Fittingly, the author's punchy, poetic prose is anything but hushed as it follows Sojourner Truth's remarkable life. When her master failed to honor his promise to free her, the young woman "fled like tomorrow wasn't ever gonna come.... She refused to stop until she saw hope." She never truly stopped, traveling "up and down the land" to speak about freedom, "the fire that burns inside. And Sojourner Truth, she was full of fire." Earth tones dominate Brian Pinkney's sunlit paintings, which are given loose definition by strong, inky brushstrokes. Truth is often shown surrounded by a golden glow, and the images consistently convey her charisma and conviction, markedly in a riveting recreation of Truth's galvanizing "Ain't I a woman?" speech. True to the spirit of Sojourner Truth herself, the Pinkneys' work emanates confidence and grace. Ages 5-9. (Nov.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Horn Book Review
Husband-and-wife team Andrea and Brian Pinkney not only bring Sojourner Truth to life but turn her into a legendary, almost tall-tale figure while still keeping to historical facts. Author Andrea Pinkney doesn't dwell on the hardships of slavery for the woman then named Belle, focusing instead on her determination and hard work as she transforms herself into Sojourner Truth, abolitionist, preacher, and advocate for women's rights. Pinkney uses a wonderfully folksy, storytelling style that meshes well with the style of Sojourner's famous "Ain't I a Woman?" speech, as when describing the atmosphere at the 1851 women's rights convention: "There was no rain on the day of that convention, child. But, oh, was there thunder." Brian Pinkney's illustrations show the tall, imposing woman outlined with thick black lines against sketched-in backgrounds, keeping her the focus of each double-page spread and conveying the strength of her personality. A section at the end fills in some missing pieces (such as Sojourner being a native New Yorker) and includes a list of books for further reading. From HORN BOOK, (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Booklist Review
Down came Sojourner's hand. An iron fist, smashing the lies of the day. The words in this rousing fictional biography express the fiery spirit of Sojourner Truth, who escaped from slavery and became a leading abolitionist and feminist. Both text and images show the cruelty she experienced in the South, when she was sold away from her parents. After fleeing north, she found work as a maid and began to draw crowds with her speeches: When she preached, she let the words fly. The story reaches its dramatic peak in scenes of a women's rights convention in Akron, Ohio, in 1851, when Truth delivered her famous And ain't I a woman? speech in response to men's claims that women are too weak to deserve equal rights. The storyteller's colloquial narration and full-page scenes of Truth, rendered in swirling, energetic lines, make this a great read-aloud choice for young children, who will want to move from the fictional story to the appended biographical notes, which include a bibliography and archival portraits, including one with President Lincoln.--Rochman, Hazel Copyright 2009 Booklist
New York Review of Books Review
Intricately colored spreads, in watercolor and gouache, follow a dizzying variety of rabbits as they prepare for Easter morning: each craftsman seems to have a different wood-carving, chocolate-making or painting specialty, as they all labor to make the "winning egg." A young rabbit is a bit discouraged by all this industry, until he finds a light blue egg that will make the day special in its own way. Hidden details in the busy scenes invite close study, like a framing device of pussy willows that suddenly blossom into a dozen more floppy-eared bunnies, who hop away. SOJOURNER TRUTH'S STEP-STOMP STRIDE By Andrea Davis Pinkney. Illustrated by Brian Pinkney. Disney-Jump at the Sun. $16.99. (Ages 5 to 9) In her own "Narrative," Sojourner Truth described her "peculiar gait" - she was usually on a mission and didn't have time to waste. Her six-foot frame, passion for justice and "stepstomp stride" all come across in this swirling picture book, which takes us from her childhood as a slave in New York State around 1800 to her later career as a lecturer and abolitionist. Both her eloquence and lectern-pounding delivery ("Bam!") brought her renown. A GIFT FROM CHILDHOOD Memories of an African Boyhood. Written and illustrated by Baba Wague Diakite. Groundwood/House of Anansi. $18.95. (Ages 10 and up) In the West African country of Mali, Diakite, an artist and storyteller, was left to be raised by his paternal grandparents in their tiny village - a family tradition. He would later use his experiences as material for stark and colorful stories, paintings and earthenware tiles, some of which decorate this memoir. He vividly describes learning such skills from his grandmother as how to wrestle a catfish and identify herhs and plants for every use. 1001 CHILDREN'S BOOKS YOU MUST READ BEFORE YOU GROW UP Edited by Julia Eccleshare. Universe. $36.95. (All Ages) This stimulating guide - international in scope - includes many books you'll be grateful to discover or revisit and many more that have been all but forgotten. Beautiful color reproductions are particularly helpful in the picture book sections, while the thoughtful summaries of books for older children like Wilson Rawls's "Where the Red Fern Grows" (1961) and William Pène Du Bois's "Twenty-One Balloons" (1947) - involving "travel, science fiction and adventure" - make you want to go hunt them down in library or bookstore. BUNNY DAYS Written and illustrated by Tao Nyeu. Dial/Penguin. $16.99. (Ages 3 to 5) Nyeu ("Wonder Bear") has a crisp palette but a whimsical imagination when it comes to cute animals. In richly colored silk-screened inks, three vignettes about baby bunnies getting into all kinds of trouble are amusing - if perhaps also a little odd, as they involve uncomfortable-looking mishaps in which the bunnies are put through the washing machine or need their tails sewn back on. No matter: the book's greens, oranges and sky blues are sunny, and look like spring. SUGAR PLUM BALLERINAS: Perfectly Prima. By Whoopi Goldberg with Deborah Underwood. Illustrated by Maryn Roos. Disney-Jump at the Sun. $16.99. (Ages 6 to 10) You have to love Jerzey Mae. In this gently humorous series about the would-be ballerinas of the Nutcracker School of Ballet, she's the determined, if klutzy, dancer who spends too much time neatly lining up her pencils and worrying: "I don't have fun a lot." Here, with the help of her little brother, a basketball and a prima ballerina, she learns how to dance and have fun at the same time. JULIE JUST
School Library Journal Review
K-Gr 3-A dynamic portrait of the freed slave whose physical and spiritual strength made her one of America's most powerful abolitionist voices. Andrea Pinkney explains how slave owners saw the robust Belle Baumfree as a profitable asset and sold her away from her parents at age nine. This episode deftly introduces modern children to the "ugly way" of slavery, yet does not frighten them with its chilling details. The author goes on to describe how the very strength that slave owners prized was the free Sojourner Truth's most valuable weapon against the institution. For example, the adult Sojourner Truth did not merely walk away from slavery: "She covered some ground, child. She got gone. She refused to stop until she saw hope." Then her strength allowed her to "travel up and down the land" to advocate freedom. The narrative speaks directly to children in such passages, and the conversational style makes this book an excellent choice for reading aloud. Brian Pinkney's vivid illustrations brilliantly reinforce his wife's lively words. Bold yellows and oranges are his dominant hues, and these colors express hope and optimism throughout. His broad, energetic strokes also echo the title and Sojourner Truth's robust "step-stomp stride." While some of Sojourner Truth's feelings may be imagined, Pinkney demonstrates the depth of her research with a "More about Sojourner Truth" feature. An essential purchase for all libraries.-Mary Landrum, Lexington Public Library, KY (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
The Pinkneys (Boycott Blues, 2008, etc.) collaborate on an upbeat yet nuanced picture biography of Sojourner Truth, whose slave name was Isabella. The towering young woman's "size twelves" metaphorically stomp out injustice: "Freedom meant putting her foot down for what she knew was right. She gave her slave name the boot, and called herself Sojourner Truth." Andrea Davis Pinkney's narrative adopts a confidential, admiring tone, tracing Truth's years of enslaved toil, her subsequent escape, deep religious faith and narration of her life story to abolitionist Olive Gilbert. Truth's legendary oratorical skill shines in a dramatic passage quoting her "Ain't I a Woman?" speech (punctuated by her fists' repeated "Bam!"). Brian Pinkney's watercolors, in washes of ochre and slate blue contoured in inky black, utilize a dry-brush technique well suited for depicting Truth's hardscrabble youth and unyielding commitment to justice. One poignant spread shows young Belle, sold away from her parents at nine; in another, the orator's life-size face and raised fist magnify her zealous fight for freedom. Imbued with a righteous beautylike Sojourner herself. (author's note, bibliography) (Picture book/biography. 5-8) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
