Reading level: Lexile not available
Interest level: Grades 1 - 5
Interest level: Grades 1 - 5
I was thrilled, thrilled to find a children’s book illustrated to a Holiday song, and this book in no way disappointed me. “God Bless the Child” is a late Depression-era classic that resonates in our own Great Recession era, especially in lyrics such as the opening “Them that’s got shall get/Them that’s not shall lose/So the Bible said/And it still is news.” The beautifully rendered illustrations are both realistic and impressionistic, giving the reader the impression of dusty, but authentic nostalgia and allowing the reader to relate without too much acute anguish. These pictures guide us through the song, which follows a 40s-era black American family as they struggle through the difficult economic period. Symbolic references add interest for older readers: for example, at the start of the book we watch one of the young boys chase after a Monarch butterfly (a symbol of change and beauty) while his family works the field. This image echoes the story’s plot: the family chases after better, beautiful things – the promise of the Great Migration – but the monarch is a symbol of death, too, and likewise, the Great Migration isn’t as great as the family hopes. However, the strength of the family is emphasized here, and while the family doesn’t find wealth in the city, the family is proud, industrious, and together, and that is what matters. It’s the last two pages that let you know you have a happy ending – the young boys are carefully groomed under the watchful eye of there mother, and then are deposited in school, the wonderfully freely available schools, at a time when education was still considered a luxury of the wealthy.
Read an interview with Jerry Pinkney
“In memory of Billie Holiday, whose music gave voice to our deepest emotions, and of Jacob Lawrence and his Great Migration series, which inspired my vision for this book.”
Use with units on the Deep South in the early 20th century, the Great Depression, and the Great Migration.
