Review by Booklist Review
What does Juneteenth mean to different generations? That is the overarching question Wynter's newest picture book considers. Through simple queries, readers are asked to imagine how African Americans would celebrate freedom after years of enslavement. Vibrant acrylic illustrations painted on hardwood panels juxtapose various aspects of slavery, such as eating food scraps, with joyful Juneteenth festivities, including people throwing parties with delicious food. Each celebration takes place in a different time period and is connected by the universal theme of celebrating freedom. As the holiday gatherings build to the present time, the story revisits the first generation of freed African Americans, remembering everything this day honors and appreciating the simple everyday joys that freedom brings. Back matter includes the history of Juneteenth and the lyrics of "Lift Every Voice and Sing." So Many Years provides a thought-provoking and easy-to-understand message that teaches even the youngest readers why Juneteenth is a cause for celebration. Pair with Tonya Duncan Ellis' They Built Me for Freedom (2024) for another accessible history of Juneteenth.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
"How would you dress/ after so many years/ of mending your clothes with rags?" begins Wynter in this affecting, question-oriented look at Juneteenth's past and present. As the queries continue ("How would you sing/ after so many years/ of writing your songs in code?" and "How would you eat/ after so many years/ of making your meals from scraps?"), Caldecott Honoree Pumphrey alternates images of enslaved people with scenes of Juneteenth festivities across the years. Thickly stroked acrylic-on-hardboard illustrations incorporate lyrics from spirituals alongside glimpses of a larger-than-life figure interacting with and sometimes holding the scenes in their hands. And as the pages turn, the questions are answered with aptly exclamatory lines: "Oh, how you would dress!// Oh, how you would sing!// Oh, how you would eat!" It's a moving tribute that converses with history's resonances while moving forward in time. A contextualizing note and lyrics to "Lift Every Voice and Sing" conclude. Ages 4--8. (May)
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Review by School Library Journal Review
K-Gr 3--With striking, large acrylic artwork and poetic short text, Pumphrey and Wynter collaborate to show the history and meaning of Juneteenth. The repeated phrase "How would you…" starts different questions in connection with the plight of African Americans when they were enslaved people. For example, "How would you eat after so many years of making your meals from scraps?" Each question is then changed to "Oh, how you would…!" with an illustration of people celebrating Juneteenth after the emancipation of enslaved persons. "Oh, how you would eat!" Back pages include a history of what Juneteenth honors and how it has been celebrated through the years, including it becoming a national holiday in 2021. The content is deliberately abstract and further explanation is needed for younger readers. VERDICT A supplementary purchase for collections needing more books about Juneteenth.--Heidi Dechief
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Review by Horn Book Review
This look at Juneteenth celebrations through the years opens in 1872, seven years after the first Juneteenth on June 19, 1865, when a major general in the Union army told enslaved people in Galveston, Texas, that they were free. Wynter begins with a series of thoughtful questions such as "How would you dress after so many years of mending your clothes with rags?" and "How would you eat after so many years of making your meals from scraps?" Answers come through Pumphrey's vibrant acrylic and digital illustrations that show a formerly enslaved family trading in the tattered clothes of bondage for fine garments and lesser cuts of meat such as pigs' feet for fried chicken and ham. In spare, lyrical text, the book showcases commemorations over nearly 130 years. On the cover and in one internal image, a pair of black hands in silhouette holds up a globe encircling free Black people. Similar hands are used in images that depict an enslaved person sewing and cooking. All of the images of the enslaved are presented as silhouettes. Wynter revisits the family from 1872 at the end of the book. "Oh, how you would celebrate...so many years...of a life, fully yours...fully free." An informative author's note provides more historical detail (though the phrasing that "most" enslaved people had no say over their lives when in fact none had say is illusory and unfortunate), and the lyrics to "Lift Every Voice and Sing" are appended. Marva Anne HintonMay/June 2025 p.78 (c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Wynter and Pumphrey tell the story of Juneteenth. What would you wear, how would you eat, how would you sing, dance, and celebrate, after so many years of being forced to wear rags, to eat scraps, and to hide your messages in song? Directly addressing audiences, Wynter's spare yet powerfully immersive words invite readers to imagine both the horrors of enslavement and the joy of emancipation, while the backmatter lays out the facts about the holiday commemorating June 19, 1865, when Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston, Texas, to announce the end of slavery. Pumphrey's acrylic illustrations weave back and forth in time, juxtaposing stark images of silhouetted people in chains and picking cotton with uplifting scenes of the newly liberated dancing and even taking flight, along with depictions of modern-day Juneteenth parades and concerts. Author and illustrator walk a fine line, acknowledging the harsh realities of slavery while never overwhelming readers with gruesome details. Pumphrey nimbly incorporates lyrics from spirituals into his artwork. Beginning and ending on notes of hope--with scenes of a formerly enslaved family enjoying their freedom at sunrise and sunset--his visuals pulse with energy and life. Children will be filled with wonder; adults will be impressed by the sheer talent on display. All will come away enlightened and moved by this loving tribute. A deeply felt celebration of the resilience of the human spirit. (lyrics to "Lift Every Voice and Sing")(Informational picture book. 4-8) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
