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Africville

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Africville

Hardcover

$19.99

Hardcover
$19.99

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Overview

Winner of the Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award

Winner of the Lillian Shepherd Memorial Award for Excellence in Illustration
Finalist for a Governor General’s Literary Award, Young People’s Literature – Illustrated Books
Finalist for a Ruth and Sylvia Schwartz Children’s Books Award

When a young girl visits the site of Africville, in Halifax, Nova Scotia, the stories she’s heard from her family come to mind. She imagines what the community was once like —the brightly painted houses nestled into the hillside, the field where boys played football, the pond where all the kids went rafting, the bountiful fishing, the huge bonfires. Coming out of her reverie, she visits the present-day park and the sundial where her great- grandmother’s name is carved in stone, and celebrates a summer day at the annual Africville Reunion/Festival.

Africville was a vibrant Black community for more than 150 years. But even though its residents paid municipal taxes, they lived without running water, sewers, paved roads and police, fire-truck and ambulance services. Over time, the city located a slaughterhouse, a hospital for infectious disease, and even the city garbage dump nearby. In the 1960s, city officials decided to demolish the community, moving people out in city dump trucks and relocating them in public housing.

Today, Africville has been replaced by a park, where former residents and their families gather each summer to remember their community.

Key Text Features
historical context references

Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.K.6
With prompting and support, name the author and illustrator of a story and define the role of each in telling the story.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.3
Describe characters, settings, and major events in a story, using key details.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.4
Identify words and phrases in stories or poems that suggest feelings or appeal to the senses.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.7
Use illustrations and details in a story to describe its characters, setting, or events.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781773060439
Publisher:	Groundwood Books
Publication date:	09/01/2018
Pages:	32
Product dimensions:	8.25(w) x 10.25(h) x 0.30(d)
Age Range:	4 - 7 Years

About the Author

SHAUNTAY GRANT is a descendant of Black Loyalists, Jamaican Maroons and Black Refugees who migrated to Canada some two hundred years ago. A writer and performance artist, she has won the Joseph S. Stauffer Prize, and she has published several picture books. Shauntay also lectures in the Creative Writing Program at Dalhousie University. Her professional degrees and training include the Master of Fine Arts program at the University of British Columbia, and the Bachelor of Journalism program at the University of King’s College. She lives in Halifax.

EVA CAMPBELL is an artist and illustrator who teaches visual art. She has exhibited her work in Canada, the US, the UK, Barbados and Ghana. Eva won the Children’s Africana Book Award for her illustrations in The Matatu by Eric Walters. She also illustrated Africville by Shauntay Grant, winner of the Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award and the Lillian Shepherd Memorial Award for Excellence in Illustration, and a Governor General’s Literary Award finalist. Eva lives in Victoria.

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

Praise for Africville:

Winner, Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award

Winner, Lillian Shepherd Memorial Award for Excellence in Illustration

Finalist, Governor General’s Literary Award, Young People’s Literature – Illustrated Books

Finalist, Elizabeth Mrazik-Cleaver Canadian Picture Book Award

Finalist, Ruth and Sylvia Schwartz Children’s Books Award

Finalist, Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia Masterworks Arts Award

CBC Books Best Canadian YA and Children’s Literature of 2018

"Through the poem, readers visit this sparkling seaside community . . .. Grant's evocative descriptions are perfectly matched in tone and timbre with Campbell's vibrant oil-and-pastel renderings of the town and its residents." — Booklist

"The writing is spare but emotional, and the art brings the community to life. A loving tribute to a history that should not be forgotten." — Kirkus Reviews

"This story celebrates the beauty and joy of the community seen through a child’s eyes. . . . There is both pride and longing expressed in the lyrical text, and the vibrant colors and friendly compositions of the oil and pastel illustrations immerse readers in this community." — School Library Journal, STARRED REVIEW

"Shauntay Grant’s writing is graceful ... She reaches out to young readers and invites them in ... Visually, Africville is gorgeous. Eva Campbell’s illustrations are arresting; the colours are warm and inviting, and her painterly style enhances the dreamlike quality of the story." — Quill & Quire, STARRED REVIEW

"[Shauntay] Grant’s perfectly paced free verse poetry has a gentle, hypnotic quality that flows through the narrative and invites the reader to savour each word and the myriad images the words evoke. Eva Campbell’s illustrations are bold, bright and filled with energy and motion. . . . [A] vivid portrait of what Africville once was." — Atlantic Books Today

"The simplicity of [Shauntay Grant’s] story engages readers of all ages and backgrounds, and it brings to light a dark period in history in a completely accessible and very beautiful way. There is a melody to Grant’s poetry that entrances, and, when paired with Eva Campbell’s vivid illustrations, the former thriving community comes to life. . . . Africville is destined to become a picture book classic . . ." — Canadian Review of Materials

From the B&N Reads Blog

Page 1 of

Editorial Reviews

The reader travels on a special journey in both text and visual memories in Africville. . . . Africville is a delightful book for classrooms and public libraries looking for a gentle storybook as well a tribute to the history of a place that should not be forgotten.

Resource Links

[Shauntay] Grant’s perfectly paced free verse poetry has a gentle, hypnotic quality that flows through the narrative and invites the reader to savour each word and the myriad images the words evoke. Eva Campbell’s illustrations are bold, bright and filled with energy and motion. . . . [A] vivid portrait of what Africville once was.

Atlantic Books Today

The simplicity of [Shauntay Grant’s] story engages readers of all ages and backgrounds, and it brings to light a dark period in history in a completely accessible and very beautiful way. There is a melody to Grant’s poetry that entrances, and, when paired with Eva Campbell’s vivid illustrations, the former thriving community comes to life. . . . Africville is destined to become a picture book classic . . .

Canadian Review of Materials

Through the poem, readers visit this sparkling seaside community . . .. Grant's evocative descriptions are perfectly matched in tone and timbre with Campbell's vibrant oil-and-pastel renderings of the town and its residents.

Booklist

Shauntay Grant’s writing is graceful ... She reaches out to young readers and invites them in ... Visually, Africville is gorgeous. Eva Campbell’s illustrations are arresting; the colours are warm and inviting, and her painterly style enhances the dreamlike quality of the story.

Quill and Quire

[A] gorgeous and radiant ode.

Vancouver Writers Fest

★ 09/01/2018
K-Gr 2—This story celebrates the beauty and joy of the community seen through a child's eyes. Africville was a Black community in Halifax, Nova Scotia, that was settled during the American Revolutionary War, and provided a haven for those fleeing slavery during the War of 1812. Despite its rich history and equal contributions to taxes, the residents of Africville were denied equal services and the community was treated as a literal dumping ground, culminating in forcible relocation and its razing in the 1960s. The spirit of the community could not be broken; there is an annual reunion festival, and the City of Halifax has apologized and offered compensation to former residents. The narrator delights in the festivities, from the hills ripe with blueberries to rafting on the pond. There is both pride and longing expressed in the lyrical text, and the vibrant colors and friendly compositions of the oil and pastel illustrations immerse readers in this community. VERDICT This poetic ode to a place lost in time is an excellent choice for general reading and classroom sharing, and a must-purchase regionally.—Anna Haase Krueger, Ramsey County Library, MN

School Library Journal

2018-06-25
Africville, a historic black community that was located on the shores of Nova Scotia, is described from a child's perspective in this nostalgic picture book. "Take me to the end of the ocean," begins this homage. The artwork, in brightly colored oil and pastel on canvas, combines past and present. The opening spread shows a modern-day black girl arriving at the shore, "where waves come to rest and hug the harbor stones." On shore, family, childhood, and community scenes from historic Africville await her. Some details are easy to imagine, like going to "watch the sea bring us all its treasures" and hearing "stories shared all around me." Others are specific to Africville but evocative of childhood adventure, like meeting at the Caterpillar Tree and "rafting down at Tibby's Pond." Still other details spark curiosity, like blueberry duff and "where my great-grandmother's name is marked in stone." On the final spread, the modern child enjoys an ice cream cone at a reunion, facing out at readers. The endmatter describes a community that was vibrant but neglected, then demolished in the 1960s. The annual reunions initiated in 1983 and the building of a museum echo the note of optimism on the final spread: "where memories turn to dreams, and dreams turn to hope, and hope never ends." The writing is spare but emotional, and the art brings the community to life.A loving tribute to a history that should not be forgotten. (bibliography) (Picture book. 4-7)

Kirkus Reviews