“The Juneteenth Alphabet” by Andrea Underwood Petifer, illustrated by Ana Latese
c.2025
Duopress / Sourcebooks
$14.99
40 pages
Your mother and father each hate being late.
It’s by no means unhealthy to be the place you’re imagined to be: on time, prepared, and longing for no matter’s subsequent. At a celebration, your church service, or lunch at Grandma’s home, it’s at all times greatest to reach initially with a smile. Being immediate is simply good manners or, as you’ll see in “The Juneteenth Alphabet” by Andrea Underwood Petifer, footage by Ana Latese, it may grow to be a a lot greater matter.
After the Civil Conflict resulted in April of 1865, 4 million previously enslaved folks embraced the top of bondage, however enslaved folks in Texas didn’t. They weren’t knowledgeable of emancipation till a lot later, not till June 19, 1865. On that day, the Union Military arrived in Galveston, Texas, to unfold the excellent news, and there was a jubilee.
That was the primary Juneteenth.
There are A-B-Cs for that.
A is for album, a selfmade guide of reminiscences and clippings so that youngsters sooner or later can perceive their historical past. B is for Black and for Lovely. C is for tradition, celebration, and neighborhood, three essential issues to recollect on Juneteenth, which started in America however is widely known in lots of international locations.
G is for Galveston, the town the place the celebration was born. H is for therapeutic, but in addition for HBCUs, or Traditionally Black Schools and Universities. Ok is for secrets and techniques being stored and for households that have been stored aside throughout slavery. And L is for legal guidelines – the great ones that made Juneteenth doable and the unhealthy ones, like Jim Crow legal guidelines.
O is for Opal Lee, an actual one who labored exhausting to make Juneteenth a nationwide vacation; she is named the “Grandmother of Juneteenth.” R and S are each vital elements of the celebration: Pink for the foods and drinks which might be conventional at Juneteenth celebrations, and Sounds and Songs that make the vacation nice!
As an grownup, you’ll be able to most likely consider many different representations for letters of the alphabet that aren’t inside “The Juneteenth Alphabet.” Civil Conflict, notification, enslavement, parade, your record could also be lengthy, and what’s right here is usually a stretch. As an grownup, you could suppose that writer Andrea Underwood Petifer missed just a few factors.
And that’s okay since you’re an grownup, and this guide isn’t for you.
Children who like to have fun Juneteenth will benefit from the narrative inside this guide, and kids who’re simply studying in regards to the vacation will get a pleasant, rounded training for it right here. Petifer’s A-B-Cs embody many sidebars to launch a dialogue with older youngsters. On the similar time, Ana Latese’s illustrations will hold youthful kids – and if you happen to nonetheless discover omissions, there’s room in each phrase and picture for folks to make additions. What enjoyable!
This is a superb guide for youths ages three to 5, and it gently leads six- and seven-year-olds to be taught extra independently. If your loved ones has Juneteenth plans this summer time, you’ll need “The Juneteenth Alphabet.” Discover it now, quickly, or higher late than by no means.
