Black Magic

by Dinah Johnson, R. Gregory Christie (Illustrator)

Overview

A moving celebration of Black identity that encourages self-love with a singular poetic spirit, perfect for fans of Black Is a Rainbow Color and Woke Baby.

Black is a look, a taste, a speed, an emotion. It's the surprising stripes on a zebra, the taste of dark chocolate, the scary, exciting feeling of going inside a tunnel, and a mother's voice as her daughter falls asleep.

In this celebration of the African American spirit, Dinah Johnson and R. Gregory Christie paint a picture of "black" that is vivid, varied, and proud.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781250822697
Publisher:	Square Fish
Publication date:	10/19/2021
Pages:	32
Product dimensions:	7.70(w) x 9.70(h) x 0.30(d)
Age Range:	5 - 9 Years

About the Author

DINAH JOHNSON has written several books for young readers, including All Around Town. A professor of English literature at the University of South Carolina, Dinah lives with her daughter, Niani, in Columbia, South Carolina.

 

R. Gregory Christie is a Brooklyn-based multi award-winning children's book illustrator who visits schools all over the country. www.gas-art.com

Editorial Reviews

With bright, bold images and poetic phrases that capture a child's exuberance and unbound imagination, Johnson expresses feelings of pride and joy in unexpected ways. . . . You don't have to be black to be swept up by this "Magic.” —San Francisco Chronicle

“While Johnson's prose is crisp and definitive, Christie's artwork takes the words and imaginatively whirls them in stylized, riotously colored pictures that will remind some of Maira Kalman's work. The exuberance this child feels in exploring black in all its permutations can't help but spill over to young listeners, who will have fun thinking up pieces of black magic in their own lives.” —Booklist, Starred Review

“This expressive book combines well-matched text and pictures to pay tribute to the myriad qualities of blackness. Buoyant yet reflective, Johnson's (Hair Dance!) free-flowing verse presents an imaginative girl's musings on the essence of black... With vibrant colors offsetting velvety black images, Christie's (Bad News for Outlaws) acrylic gouache illustrations playfully tweak perspective and scale, echoing the verse's energy and fluidity.” —Publishers Weekly

“These early literacy concepts are conveyed in short, snappy lines of text that make the book an outstanding choice for preschool storytimes. The African-American children in Christie's illustrations have a variety of hairstyles and skin tones and are shown playing with children of other races. The bright acrylic colors capture the energy of childhood, and the artist's bold, loose brushstrokes further underscore the dynamic nature of the text, and of the little girl who narrates it.” —School Library Journal

“Johnson successfully uses figurative language to describe basic concepts and more complex connections, such as using color to describe emotions. . . . The illustrations are bright and vibrant and provide an excellent contrast to the actual color black, which appears throughout the book. . . . Adults will find this book a great conversation starter with little ones.” —Kirkus Reviews

From the Publisher