A review by elizabethlk
Clap Your Hands: A Celebration of Gospel by Toyomi Igus
4.0
Clap Your Hands is a beautifully illustrated book on the history of gospel music. Using poetry to tell the story, and incorporating extra facts and a continuous timeline throughout, this book covers gospel history in a way that makes gospel central to Black history in the USA and that makes Black history central to gospel music. This is one of those books that you can't help but be entranced by. The history is thorough, the poetry is engaging, and the illustrations are a high point.
Christianity is obviously a core component of gospel music, so it is expected that it plays a large role here. I definitely felt like it wasn't interested including Black history that was more attached to other faiths though, which left the timeline feeling a touch incomplete. I suspect that Black children from families of other faiths will feel less included in the USA's Black history and more proselytized to than anything.
I would recommend this book to kids interested in gospel music, music in general, or Black history in general. I'd also recommend it for parents looking to share these things with their kids.
Christianity is obviously a core component of gospel music, so it is expected that it plays a large role here. I definitely felt like it wasn't interested including Black history that was more attached to other faiths though, which left the timeline feeling a touch incomplete. I suspect that Black children from families of other faiths will feel less included in the USA's Black history and more proselytized to than anything.
I would recommend this book to kids interested in gospel music, music in general, or Black history in general. I'd also recommend it for parents looking to share these things with their kids.