You will recognize Pinkney's style right away!
In this book not only is there a fascinating authors's note; there is also a fascinating note from the artist also. You can see both the author's note and the artist's note on the same page here.
San Souci explains how he found this African American tale, first published in a British magazine in 1887, indirectly through other research he was doing. Here's that story (click on the image for a larger view): De New Han'.
As you can see, the story is told in dialect, and one of San Souci's goals was to retell the story in a way that would be more accessible, without that affected and offensive dialect style which was so popular with white authors and audiences in the 19th century (I'll have more to say about that in future posts).
Meanwhile, in his artist's note, Jerry Pinkney explains how he at first thought he would need to set the story in the Reconstruction era to depict a Black-owned mill, but then he learned about the mill-town of Waterford, Virginia, established by Quakers, which had a large population of free Black craftspeople, which allowed him to depict the story in an 18th-century setting, for more of a folk/fairy-tale feeling. As he explains: "the farther back I set this story, the more magical it would become." Even more importantly, he says: "I wanted to provide a new, rich dimension to African-American folklore by bringing to the art a sense of time when free blacks were openly a part of several colonial communities, long before the Emancipation Proclamation."
One of the best things about San Souci's books is the way he uses the author's note opportunity to put his creative work in context, and it is even more exciting in this book with the addition of a note from Jerry Pinkney too! Plus, it's just a great story; read and enjoy!
by Robert San Souci
No comments:
Post a Comment
Comments are limited to Google accounts. You can also email me at laurakgibbs@gmail.com or find me at Twitter, @OnlineCrsLady.