African Diaspora at Internet Archive: The People Could Fly

Earlier this week I wrote about Virginia Hamilton's Ring of Tricksters, and when I saw this tweet from the Schomburg Center last night, I knew I wanted to write about her book The People Could Fly in today's blog post!

The #SchomburgCenter’s @professormdc is one of the curators of "Before Yesterday We Could Fly." The exhibition is inspired by Virginia Hamilton's legendary retellings of the Flying African tale. https://t.co/L2c15gdUfF

— SchomburgCenter (@SchomburgCenter) February 3, 2022

There are multiple copies of both versions of this book available at Internet Archive. First, there's the 1985 anthology which contains 24 folktales: The People Could Fly: American Black Folktales.

Then, in 2004, shortly after Virginia Hamilton's death in 2002, the illustrators, Leo and Diane Dillon, published a picture book version of the title story: The People Could Fly: The Picture Book. 

The Dillons worked closely with Virginia Hamilton over the years, and they open this book with a lovely tribute to her:

In both the 1985 and the 2004 books, you will see the Dillons' instantly recognizable style. The anthology has black-and-white illustrations; the picture book is in color:

I've featured many books with illustrations by the Dillons previously; you can find all those posts here: illustrations by Leo and Diane Dillon.

And here is a link to the stories in the anthology, story by story: there is such a great variety here, and Hamilton's writing is marvelous:

He Lion, Bruh Bear, and Bruh Rabbit / Doc Rabgit, Bruh Fox, and Tar Baby / Tappin, the Land Turtle / Bruh Alligator and Bruh Deer / Bruh Lizard and Bruh Rabbit / Bruh Alligator Meets Trouble / Wolf and Birds and the Fish-Horse / The Beautiful Girl of the Moon Tower / A Wolf and Little Daughter / Manuel Had a Riddle / Papa John's Tall Tale / The Two Johns / Wiley, His Mama, and the Hairy Man / John and the Devil's Daughter / The Peculiar Such Thing / Little Eight John / Jack and the Devil / Better Wait Till Martin Comes / Carrying the Running-Aways / How Nehemiah Got Free / The Talking Cooter / The Riddle Tale of Freedom / The Most Useful Slave / The People Could Fly

So, enjoy the beautiful stories and enjoy the beautiful artwork; Hamilton's anthology is one of the best you will find, and the picture book is perfect to share with younger readers. It's all just a click away at Internet Archive, and they have multiple copies of both books too!

The People Could Fly: American Black Folktales

The People Could Fly: The Picture Book.