rather_b_reading's review against another edition
5.0
Read as part of my reading around the world challenge. The illustrations are amazing and the story is one that needs to be told and not forgotten.
heisereads's review against another edition
4.0
I wasn't sure until the end if this was a real place or not. The back matter is fantastic in explaining the history and historical context of Africville in Nova Scotia. Gorgeous illustrations and lyrical prose.
agudenburr's review against another edition
4.0
A beautiful book about family history and traditions. Very short sentences would be perfect for storytime. I LOVED the illustrations!
leslie_d's review against another edition
5.0
Africville carries with it such a clear resounding voice, the poetry if not formed in your mouth and spoken in sure rhythmic intonations in your ears, it will do so in your mind. The requests to “take me to…” takes us along in a tour that speaks to a life-giving nourishment of community, family that isn’t so sentimental as to be mistrusted as something nostalgic. There is a longing for something you know was from a before.
Myself, completely ignorant of the history let alone existence of Africville was taken by the sheer longing and delight of something that surely was. Which of course, upon further education (notes at the back of the book), deepen every sensation of loss.
Africville has a long history, but the children and even the truck in the illustrations do not speak to some long, long ago bygone era; not even the unpaved roads. That Campbell composes with oil and pastel on canvas does suggest an nod toward preservation; of worth; and how it translates in color and texture a richness, a fineness. I almost had someone read this one to me so I take in the words while I took the vibrant images in.
I would not read Africville apart from its history, the opportunity to share its story; but it does read like the fondest of memories and something still very much present. I would allow the reader to rest in the reading before launching into the lament of its Africville’s violent end.
Grant’s words and Campbell’s paintings are gorgeously suited to one another, and a pleasure to hear and see. It is a must-read.
Recommended for all the libraries; adding a nice variation in style of illustration, in historical narrative, and focus (not one white person present); must read aloud and take your time one of the times through. For readers of Jacqueline Woodson’s This is the Rope and Ellington Was Not a Street by Ntozake Shange.
https://contemplatrix.wordpress.com/2019/02/04/africville/
Myself, completely ignorant of the history let alone existence of Africville was taken by the sheer longing and delight of something that surely was. Which of course, upon further education (notes at the back of the book), deepen every sensation of loss.
Africville has a long history, but the children and even the truck in the illustrations do not speak to some long, long ago bygone era; not even the unpaved roads. That Campbell composes with oil and pastel on canvas does suggest an nod toward preservation; of worth; and how it translates in color and texture a richness, a fineness. I almost had someone read this one to me so I take in the words while I took the vibrant images in.
I would not read Africville apart from its history, the opportunity to share its story; but it does read like the fondest of memories and something still very much present. I would allow the reader to rest in the reading before launching into the lament of its Africville’s violent end.
Grant’s words and Campbell’s paintings are gorgeously suited to one another, and a pleasure to hear and see. It is a must-read.
Recommended for all the libraries; adding a nice variation in style of illustration, in historical narrative, and focus (not one white person present); must read aloud and take your time one of the times through. For readers of Jacqueline Woodson’s This is the Rope and Ellington Was Not a Street by Ntozake Shange.
https://contemplatrix.wordpress.com/2019/02/04/africville/
michelle_neuwirth_gray9311's review against another edition
5.0
I could feel the author's and illustrator's love for the town and the summer in the warm illustrations and poetic text.
Themes: family, summer, multicultural
Themes: family, summer, multicultural
backonthealex's review against another edition
4.0
In an article for CBCBooks, Shauntay Grant says that when she began writing her tribute to Africville, she had originally intended it to be a poem, a tribute to this once thriving community of black refugees, including runaway slaves from America, located in Halifax, Nova Scotia. The poem was to be about her visit to the site where Africville had once been, and which had lasted 150 years before the government tore it down. But when she said the words she had written spoken aloud, she knew it had to be made into a children's picture book. That book, of course, is Africville.
A young black girl implores "Take me to the end of the ocean.." and as she walks around the area where Africville once stood, she imagines what life was like for the people who had lived there and "where home smells like sweet apple pie and blueberry duff." More scenes of life greet her as she walks along and imagines kids picking berries from bushes thick with them, as her mind's eye sees other kids in a field playing football, still others rafting down a pond, and some catching cod fish from a dock.
Africville was home, where the pavement ends and family begins, where the young girl's family name is marked in stone, and people still come together and sing the old songs and share stories, and have memories of Africville. And though Africville is no longer a vibrant black community, its memory sparks dreams that turn to hope that never ends.
Told in spare, dreamlike lyrical language, Grant paints a picture of what home was for the people of Africville, complimented by the oil and pastel illustrations that carry the same sense of reality, yet are dreamily detailed to represent imagination. Africville is such a beautiful, loving homage to what was such an important part of American and Canadian black history.
What happened to Africville:
At the back of the book is a short history of Africville and its sad demise. This vibrant community may have been called home by many people, but it also lacked basic services, like paved roads, running water, sewers. Although the residents paid municipal taxes, it was decided by Halifax city officials to relocate its inhabitants and demolished Africville in the 1960s instead of making any attempt to bring those basic services to the residents - 150 years of history gone just like that.
Grant ended her tribute to Africville's history on a hopeful note - the young girl is a descendant of former residents, who have been having reunions there since 1983 of which she is a part.
Africville is an beautifully written, important work depicting one part of the rich history of black Canadians and Americans that shouldn't be forgotten. If you would like to explore the history of Africville, you can at the Africville Story Map, an interactive history,
This book is recommended for readers age 5+
This book was borrowed from the NYPL
A young black girl implores "Take me to the end of the ocean.." and as she walks around the area where Africville once stood, she imagines what life was like for the people who had lived there and "where home smells like sweet apple pie and blueberry duff." More scenes of life greet her as she walks along and imagines kids picking berries from bushes thick with them, as her mind's eye sees other kids in a field playing football, still others rafting down a pond, and some catching cod fish from a dock.
Africville was home, where the pavement ends and family begins, where the young girl's family name is marked in stone, and people still come together and sing the old songs and share stories, and have memories of Africville. And though Africville is no longer a vibrant black community, its memory sparks dreams that turn to hope that never ends.
Told in spare, dreamlike lyrical language, Grant paints a picture of what home was for the people of Africville, complimented by the oil and pastel illustrations that carry the same sense of reality, yet are dreamily detailed to represent imagination. Africville is such a beautiful, loving homage to what was such an important part of American and Canadian black history.
What happened to Africville:
At the back of the book is a short history of Africville and its sad demise. This vibrant community may have been called home by many people, but it also lacked basic services, like paved roads, running water, sewers. Although the residents paid municipal taxes, it was decided by Halifax city officials to relocate its inhabitants and demolished Africville in the 1960s instead of making any attempt to bring those basic services to the residents - 150 years of history gone just like that.
Grant ended her tribute to Africville's history on a hopeful note - the young girl is a descendant of former residents, who have been having reunions there since 1983 of which she is a part.
Africville is an beautifully written, important work depicting one part of the rich history of black Canadians and Americans that shouldn't be forgotten. If you would like to explore the history of Africville, you can at the Africville Story Map, an interactive history,
This book is recommended for readers age 5+
This book was borrowed from the NYPL
kristinajean's review against another edition
4.0
3.5 stars
Beautiful illustrations on canvas.
I wish that more of the information in the afterward was included in the narrative or even told in a preface to give perspective and frame the the story.
Beautiful illustrations on canvas.
I wish that more of the information in the afterward was included in the narrative or even told in a preface to give perspective and frame the the story.