Tag: African American

A Picture Book by Tim Tingle

1. Bibliography

Tingle, Tim, and Jeanne Rorex Bridges (illustrator). 2006. Crossing Bok Chitto: A Choctaw Tale of Friendship & Freedom. El Paso: Cinco Puntos Press. ISBN 9780938317777

2. Plot Summary

Bok Chitto is the river boundary between the Choctaw Nation and the Black slaves that work the plantation on the other side. Martha Tom’s mother warns her never to cross the river, but when the young Choctaw girl is tasked with gathering blackberries for a wedding, she sees delicious bushes on the other side and can’t help but cross. When Martha Tom gets lost, members of a forbidden slave church help her, sending one young Black slave, Little Mo, to direct her back across the river. Soon, a friendship blooms between Martha Tom and Little Mo. When Little Mo’s mother learns she’s going to be sold away from her family, Little Mo asks Martha Tom’s family for help. Even though slave owners are searching for Little Mo’s mother, the combined faith of Little Mo’s and Martha Tom’s family helps Mo and his clan to literally disappear from sight. The family crosses Bok Chitto to safety and to freedom. End notes include information on the Mississippi Choctaws and on Choctaw storytelling.

3.  Critical Analysis

Crossing Bok Chitto is an original story like nothing I’ve ever read before, and there’s no doubt that Tim Tingle has written an engaging story that will rivet young audiences. Children will await the turn of the page, wondering about the fates of Martha Tom, Little Mo, and their entire families. The book is also a shining example of one that manages to respect for the religious beliefs of both cultures portrayed. Little Mo and his family attend a church where the preacher preaches and the congregants sing, while Martha Tom’s family participates in the dances and chants of a Native wedding ceremony. It is both the Christian faith of Little Mo’s family and the ceremonial unity of the Choctaw Nation that bring Little Mo’s family safely across the river. Rather than allow their cultural differences to create a rift, the relationships between the Choctaw and the African Americans in Crossing Bok Chitto are positive and uplifting. As Tim Tingle writes, the story is also “documented the Indian way, told and retold and then passed on by uncles and grandmothers.” Crossing Bok Chitto has the read-aloud quality of a Native American oral tale, perfect for performing, and the fact that the entire story has stemmed from a conversation with Archie Mingo, one of Tingle’s trible elders, adds to its authenticity. The Choctaw chant in the story, a real wedding chant, is another valuable addition.

Bridges’s illustrations are also, for the most part, a plus. Her illustrations accurately depict the characters on both sides of the river—Martha Tom and the Choctaw people look much different from Little Mo and the African American slaves, both in physical characteristics and in dress. Unfortunately, while the illustrations are accurate and each character is drawn distinctly rather than stereotyped, the art style, a mix of acrylic and watercolor painting, feels slightly dated.

Still, while the front cover may not immediately draw children in, the storyline will. Parents, teachers, and other caregivers should make the effort to introduce their children to this unique book, crossing cultural divides and telling a story that isn’t often told. Recommended for all picture book shelves.

4. Rewards and Review Excerpts

Booklist Book Review Stars, 2006

Publishers Weekly Book Review Stars, 2006

American Indian Youth Literature Award, 2008, Winner

Jane Addams Children’s Book Award, 2007, Honor

Skipping Stones Honor Award, 2007

ALSC Notable Children’s Book, 2007

From Children’s Literature: “Tom Tingle, a member of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, tells a very moving story about friends helping each other and reveals a lesser-known part of American History: Native Americans helped runaway slaves. . . . While this is a picture book, it would make a wonderful read-aloud for middle elementary students.”

From Booklist: “In a picture book that highlights rarely discussed intersections between Native Americans in the South and African Americans in bondage, a noted Choctaw storyteller and Cherokee artist join forces with stirring results.”

5. Connections

Create a display of Crossing Bok Chitto and other books by Tim Tingle, such as the following selections:

  • How I Became a Ghost: A Choctaw Trail of Tears Story. ISBN 9781937054533
  • Saltypie: A Choctaw Journey from Darkness into Light. ISBN 9781933693675
  • Stone River Crossing. ISBN 9781620148235
  • Danny Blackgoat, Navajo Prisoner. ISBN 9781939053039
  • House of Purple Cedar. ISBN 9781935955696

Create a display of Crossing Bok Chitto and other freedom-themed picture book stories, such as the following selections:

  • Shange, Ntozake. Freedom’s a-Callin’ Me. ISBN 9780061337413
  • Weatherford, Carole Boston. Box: Henry Brown Mails Himself to Freedom. ISBN 9780763691561
  • Lendler, Ian. The Fabled Life of Aesop: The Extraordinary Journey and Collected Tales of the World’s Greatest Storyteller. ISBN 9781328585523
  • Cline-Ransom, Lesa. Overground Railroad. ISBN 9780823438730
  • Sís, Peter. Nicky & Vera: A Quiet Hero of the Holocaust and the Children He Rescued. ISBN 9781324015741
  • Văn, Mượn Thị. Wishes. ISBN 9781338305890

*Note—This book review was created as an assignment for a course at Texas Woman’s University.

A Book by Kadir Nelson

1. Bibliography

Nelson, Kadir. 2011. Heart and Soul: The Story of America and African Americans. New York: Balzer + Bray. ISBN 978-0-06-173074-0

2. Plot Summary

Written in the voice of an African American senior who talks to her audience as if she’s talking to her own grandchildren, Heart and Soul tells the extensive history of the African American people. The story begins with the exportation of African laborers, slavery, abolition, the Civil War, Reconstruction, westward expansion, the Great Migration, and the Harlem boom, and goes on to detail the history of African Americans in World War II, Jim Crow, civil rights, and—most recently—the election of the first African American president. This 100-page monument to the strength of the African American people is written in twelve chapters, with detailed oil paintings accompanying the written history on every page. The book also includes an author’s note, an extensive timeline and bibliography, and a handy index in the back.

3.  Critical Analysis

Kadir Nelson takes pride in his heritage, a pride that is apparent in his striking illustrations of strong-willed African Americans—people like Frederick Douglas, Harriet Tubman, and even sharecroppers and schoolteachers who, though treated unfairly, stand up nobly and seem to look the reader in the eye. Nelson’s focus on the faces of his subjects allows readers to feel a sense of personal connection to the African Americans of history and respect their dignity, even in appalling circumstances.

Though Kadir Nelson’s story explains heavy topics like the founding fathers’ views on slavery, the animalistic treatment of slaves, and the Klu Klux Klan, the tone of the story’s narrator is matter-of-fact—never contemptuous or bitter. The reason to tell the tale is, in the words of this grandmotherly storyteller, to “know where you come from so you can move forward” and to “make the American promise of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness a reality for all Americans.” This isn’t a book of anger, although parts of it will rightly make readers angry. It’s a book to educate, to uplift, and to make sure history doesn’t repeat itself.

The book wears Black culture on its sleeve, shown most strikingly through its notable use of “oral speak”— the African American senior narrates her story as if her readers are her own grandchildren gathered around her knee. When she notes that the white colonists decided to rebel against English because they didn’t want to be slaves to the king, she says (with a wry hint of irony in her voice that’s almost palpable), “Chile, what in the world could they ever know about that?” Her authentic pseudo-oral narration pays tribute to the African American oral tradition of storytelling, passing down wisdom and history from generation to generation, even when reading and writing was relegated only to the white folks.

The first illustration of Heart and Soul is a painting of scores of Americans of all colors, races, genders, and religions, linking arms around an American flag. Nelson’s point, shown through his words and illustrations, is clear: America and its citizens are best when all of us stand together.

A book that allows children to gain a more nuanced perspective of American history, Heart and Soul is a must-have history book for children in higher elementary and middle school.

4. Rewards and Review Excerpts

Cybils Award, 2011, Nominee, Children’s Nonfiction

YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults, 2012, Nominee

White Ravens Award, 2012, Winner, United States

NPR’s Book Concierge Pick, 2011, Kids

From Kirkus: In an undertaking even more ambitious than the multiple-award-winning We Are the Ship (2008), Nelson tells the story of African-Americans and their often central place in American history. . . . This intimate narrative makes the stories accessible to young readers and powerfully conveys how personal this history feels for many African-Americans.”

From Booklist: “Nelson, the creator of We Are the Ship (2008), recipient of both a Coretta Scott King Author Award and a Robert F. Siebert Medal, adds to his notable titles with this powerful view of African American history.”

5. Connections

Create a display of nonfiction African American history books for children and young adults, such as the following selections:

  • Crowe, Chris. Getting Away with Murder: The True Story of the Emmett Till Case. ISBN 9780451478726
  • Beals, Melba Pattillo. Warriors Don’t Cry. ISBN 9780671899004
  • Bridges, Ruby. This Is Your Time. ISBN 9780593378557
  • Lewis, John, Andrew Aydin, and Nate Powell. March: Book Three. ISBN 9781603094023

Create a display of Heart and Soul and other books written and/or illustrated by Kadir Nelson, such as the following selections:

  • We Are the Ship: The Story of Negro League Baseball. ISBN 9780786808328
  • Nelson Mandela. ISBN 9780061783746
  • He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands. ISBN 9780803728509
  • Levine, Ellen. Henry’s Freedom Box. ISBN 9780439777339
  • Alexander, Kwame. The Undefeated. ISBN 9781328780966
  • Napoli, Donna Jo. Mama Miti. ISBN 9781416935056

*Note—This book review was created as an assignment for a course at Texas Woman’s University.