Let It Shine, Three Favorite Spirituals
Let it Shine: Three Favorite Spirituals
Written by Ashley Bryan
New York, Antheneum Books for Young Readers, 2007
10.3" x 11.6"
Kerlan Collection, Children's Literature Research Collections
University of Minnesota Libraries
Ashley Bryan made his first books as a child enrolled in a Depression-era WPA program in Harlem. The creative freedom he experienced then sparked a lifelong exploration of art and storytelling traditions and media. Bryan's books have introduced generations of young readers to African folklore and to vital aspects of African American culture, including the spirituals dramatized here. While a concern for tradition has played a motivating role in nearly all his books, Bryan is an unconventional illustrator of the first order. The pages of this book, ecstatically colored collages rendered with construction paper, all but defy words and instead, quite appropriately, evoke the energy and excitement of music and dance.