Let It Shine, Three Favorite Spirituals

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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.


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Art of the Picture Book
The Size and Shape of Things
Let It Shine, Three Favorite Spirituals