Bryan, Ashley. Let It
Shine, three favorite spirituals. New York:
Atheneum Books for Young Readers. 2007. ISBN 9780689847325
In characteristic Bryan BRIGHT, Let It Shine certainly does.
Bryan has illuminated three well known spirituals, “Let It Shine,” “When
the Saints Go Marching In,” and “He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands.” My kindergartners had no trouble recognizing
these spirituals, and the brilliant colors used for illustration seemed to make
them sing out with gusto. Ashley Bryan
has been a highly respected author, illustrator and educator with many awards
on his resume. Let It Shine was awarded the Coretta Scott King Award and the Laura
Ingalls Wilder Award.
The amazing illustrations are intricate collages of cut
construction paper making every spread a rainbow of color. Hands, children, flowers, buildings, skies,
etc. burst with color and design. The movement
in the designs encourages the movement of each song as he captures the power of
the spirited lyrics. There are profiles
of African/African American children and adults on almost every page. In the addendum, Bryan explains that the
songs, called Negro Spirituals, originated from African American slaves who
were not allowed to read or write. Their
creativity, however, could not be enslaved, and the songs have out lived their
creators by many generations.
The bright colors celebrate the colorful spirit and beauty of
the African American culture. Yet, the themes
of peace and world culture are also present.
To introduce “He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands,” he has a spread of
buildings easily recognized from around the world, such as igloos, pyramids,
teepees, huts, tall apartments, domed cathedrals, and monuments. He celebrates living in peace with his images
of the lion with the lamb, the goat with the tiger, and the dove with the olive
branch.
The overall emphasis of this book to me is song. The Book
List Review says, “This will be hard to read without breaking into song.” Other than a praying boy and a sleeping baby,
every person in the book is singing! The
musical notation and lyrics of all three songs are included in the back of the book,
so I would recommend this book for a joyous song session. But this book should be included in any unit
of African American culture because music is such a large part of any
culture. African Americans have influenced
music all over the world, and the Negro Spiritual, Jazz, and Rap are just a few
of their major contributions. Let us
join Ashley Bryan as he bids us “Come, let us sing the Spirituals!”
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