A collection of lullabies orally transmitted by African-American slaves revealing their hardships and sorrows as well as soothing notes of well-being and belief in a better time to come. Includes a sound disc.
"A man who cannot swim leaps off a slave ship into the dark water. A girl defies the law by secretly learning to read and write. A future abolitionist regains his will to live by fighting off his captor with his bare hands: "I will not let you use me like a brute any longer," Frederick Douglass vows. Drawing from authentic accounts, here is a chronology of resistance in all its forms: comical trickster tales about outwitting "Old Marsa"; secret "hush harbors" where Africans instill Christian worship with their own rituals; and spirituals such as "Go Down Moses," whose coded lyrics signal not just hope for deliverance, but an active call to escape."
(From the publisher's description)
Well-known together with lesser-known verses to the traditional Thanksgiving song are illustrated from both Grandmother's and the journeying family's point of view.
By Nadine Bernard Westcott (adapter and illustrator)
Miss Lucy can't figure out what is wrong with Tiny Tim, so she calls a doctor, a nurse, and the lady with the alligator purse. Includes music to sing, a story to read, & games to play! J E Fic Wes
