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Summary
Summary
Mazie is ready to celebrate liberty. She is ready to celebrate freedom. She is ready to celebrate a great day in American history. The day her ancestors were no longer slaves. Mazie remembers the struggles and the triumph, as she gets ready to celebrate Juneteenth.
Author Notes
Floyd Cooper was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma on January 8, 1956. He received a degree in fine arts from the University of Oklahoma. After graduating, he worked as an artist for a major greeting card company. In 1984, he came to New York City to pursue a career as an illustrator of books. The first book he illustrated was Grandpa's Face written by Eloise Greenfield. He received a Coretta Scott King Award for his illustrations in The Blacker the Berry and a Coretta Scott King Honor for Brown Honey in Broomwheat Tea and I Have Heard of a Land. Floyd Cooper illustrator, and author, published over 96 books. On July 16, 2021, he died from cancer in Easton, PA. He was 65.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (4)
School Library Journal Review
K-Gr 3-June 19, 2015 will mark the 150th anniversary of the day the Emancipation Proclamation made it to Texas (two years after the rest of the country heard it). This title offers context for that occasion, hailed as "Juneteenth." Cooper's signature oil wash and eraser technique elevates the presentation beyond the purely instructional. Like some of his predecessors who told this story (Valerie Wesley, Carol Boston Weatherford, etc.), this author frames the history of freedom in Texas with a present-day family's commemoration. Mazie is a young African American who bristles at age-related limits, such as cookie consumption and bedtime. Her father mentions that she will have a chance to celebrate tomorrow; explaining that her restrictions aren't so terrible, he says: "Well, Great, Great, Great Grandpa Mose heard 'no' even more." As he narrates, listeners see the profile of a boy in an endless cotton field, a man and woman running toward the North Star, the proclamation being read from a Texan balcony. Mazie's father covers ensuing civil rights' milestones, declaring, "Black people still struggled to stand shoulder to shoulder with White people." Cooper depicts the Selma to Montgomery March, a schoolroom, a church, and the rear view of a historic inauguration, making this a useful title for a bird's-eye perspective of the subject. For a treatment that focuses solely on that long ago day in Texas and imagines what the impact of the announcement would be on one slave family, see Angela Johnson's All Different Now (S. & S., 2014).-Wendy Lukehart, District of Columbia Public Library (c) Copyright 2015. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Horn Book Review
It's your turn to celebrate...and to remember." Dad tells Mazie about the history and significance of Juneteenth, from the jubilation after emancipation through civil rights struggles of the last century. Cooper's accessible text covers the subject broadly and lyrically; his warm illustrations have a dreamlike quality and effectively tie past and present together. A brief author's note provides a few details. (c) Copyright 2015. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
A father shares an important holiday with his daughter.Mazie is unhappy because it is bedtime, and she would much rather stay up. She snuggles up to her father, who tells about a big celebration that will occur tomorrow"on a day we call Juneteenth." It begins with "Great, Great, Great Grandpa Mose," who is a slave in the cotton fields until June 19, 1865, when freedom is finally proclaimed in Galveston, Texas. Dancing and celebrating in the streets greet the news. Equality does not necessarily follow, but the day is always remembered. Protests, education and forgiveness, continues the father in his narration, are part of the story, which culminates with the inauguration of Barack Obama. He promises Mazie a day of good food, fun and remembrance. Cooper's story is straightforward and aimed at an early-elementary audience, but it provides sufficient information to use with older children as an introduction to Juneteenth, which is marking its 150th anniversary in 2015. His full-page artworkoil paintings in softly textured yellows and brownscaptures the tender relationship between a father and daughter and the sadness and pride of their family story. Broad sweeps of history are encapsulated in double-page spreads focusing on determined, prayerful and happy faces. A quiet and informative picture of belated emancipation. (afterword) (Picture book. 4-9) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
I bet you're tired of hearing no' all the time, her father says to grumpy Mazie. Well, Great, Great, Great Grandpa Mose heard no' even more. Mentioning freedom several times but slavery only in an endnote, Mazie's dad describes how people who sweat, struggled, bled, and cried burst into celebration when a proclamation from a brave president was read one June day. It wasn't the end of struggles, he explains, but Mazie will have a chance to celebrate that great day with barbecue and strawberry pop, and to remember. In his customary gauzy gold-and-brown illustrations, Cooper sandwiches historical images of figures picking cotton, fleeing north to freedom, and marching over a bridge, between contemporary scenes of Mazie snuggled up next to her dad, and dancing in a festive parade. One final view of her kneeling reverently precedes a brief afterword that fills in some blanks though not mentioning that red food is actually a traditional part of the holiday. Other introductions to Juneteenth are more detailed, but this will give even young readers a glimmer of its significance.--Peters, John Copyright 2015 Booklist