Heart and Soul: The Story of America and African Americans

by Kadir Nelson

Overview

The story of America and African Americans is a story of hope and inspiration and unwavering courage. In Heart and Soul, Kadir Nelson's stirring paintings and words grace 100-plus pages of a gorgeous picture book—a beautiful gift for readers of all ages, a treasure to share across generations at home or in the classroom.

Heart and Soul is about the men, women, and children who toiled in the hot sun picking cotton; it's about the America ripped in two by Jim Crow laws; it's about the brothers and sisters of all colors who rallied against those who would dare bar a child from an education. It's a story of discrimination and broken promises, determination, and triumphs.

Kadir Nelson's Heart and Soul—the winner of numerous awards, including the Coretta Scott King Author Award and Illustrator Honor, and the recipient of five starred reviews—is told through the unique point of view and intimate voice of a one-hundred-year-old African-American female narrator.

This inspiring book demonstrates that in striving for freedom and equal rights, African Americans help our country on the journey toward its promise of liberty and justice—the true heart and soul of our nation.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062184108
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	04/16/2024
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	112
Sales rank:	744,413
File size:	205 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.
Age Range:	1 - 12 Years

About the Author

Kadir Nelson won the 2012 Coretta Scott King Author Award and Illustrator Honor for Heart and Soul: The Story of America and African Americans. He received Caldecott Honors for Henry's Freedom Box by Ellen Levine and Moses: When Harriet Tubman Led Her People to Freedom by Carole Boston Weatherford, for which he also garnered a Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award and won an NAACP Image Award. Ellington Was Not a Street by Ntozake Shange won a Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award. Nelson's authorial debut, We Are the Ship, was a New York Times bestseller, a Coretta Scott King Author Award winner, and a Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor book. He is also the author and illustrator of the acclaimed Baby Bear.

Editorial Reviews

This latest book by Kadir Nelson…announces its ambition with its title. This is a grand and awe-inspiring survey of the black experience in America, delivered in 108 pages with lushly painted illustrations…The images are typical Nelson, depicting his subjects with strength and dignity…And the book offers page after page of American history in a way that welcomes young readers to stand beside the historical figures and be part of their story.
—The New York Times Book Review

Walter Dean Myers

As in We Are the Ship, Nelson knits together the nation's proudest moments with its most shameful, taking on the whole of African-American history, from Revolutionary-era slavery up to the election of President Obama. He handles this vast subject with easy grace, aided by the voice of a grandmotherly figure who's an amalgam of voices from Nelson's own family. She does not gloss over the sadness and outrage of her family's history, but her patient, sometimes weary tone ("The law didn't do a thing to stop it," she says about the Ku Klux Klan. "Shoot, some of the men wearing the sheets were lawmen") makes listeners feel the quiet power that survival requires. In jaw-dropping portraits that radiate determination and strength, Nelson paints heroes like Frederick Douglass and Joe Louis, conferring equal dignity on the slaves, workers, soldiers, and students who made up the backbone of the African-American community. The images convey strength and integrity as he recounts their contributions, including "the most important idea ever introduced to America by an African American"—Dr. King's nonviolent protest. A tremendous achievement. Ages 9–up. (Aug.)

Publishers Weekly

As in WE ARE THE SHIP, Nelson knits together the nation’s proudest moments with its most shameful, taking on the whole of African-American history. He handles this vast subject with easy grace. [Nelson’s] jaw-dropping portraits radiate determination and strength. A tremendous achievement. — Publishers Weekly (starred review)

The dramatic oil paintings heighten the dignity of this story, whether they are of well-known historical figures, common folk or landscape…This intimate narrative makes the stories accessible to young readers and powerfully conveys how personal this history feels for many African-Americans. — Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

Nelson…adds to his notable titles with this powerful view of African American history. Illustrated with 44 full-page paintings, this handsome volume is told in the fictionalized, informal voice of an African American senior looking back on her life and remembering what her elders told her. — Booklist (starred review)

Provocative and powerful, this book offers a much-needed perspective for individuals of all ages seeking to understand America’s past and present. — School Library Journal (starred review)

Nelson effectively creates a voice that is at once singular and representative. A tour de force in the career of an author/artist who continues to outdo himself. — Horn Book (starred review)

From the Publisher

Nelson…adds to his notable titles with this powerful view of African American history. Illustrated with 44 full-page paintings, this handsome volume is told in the fictionalized, informal voice of an African American senior looking back on her life and remembering what her elders told her.

Booklist (starred review)

Nelson effectively creates a voice that is at once singular and representative. A tour de force in the career of an author/artist who continues to outdo himself.

Horn Book (starred review)

Nelson effectively creates a voice that is at once singular and representative. A tour de force in the career of an author/artist who continues to outdo himself.

Horn Book

Nelson…adds to his notable titles with this powerful view of African American history. Illustrated with 44 full-page paintings, this handsome volume is told in the fictionalized, informal voice of an African American senior looking back on her life and remembering what her elders told her.

Booklist

Gr 5 Up—Expanding his focus from the close-up view of history applied in previous books, Nelson uses his formidable skills for the larger landscape: the black experience in America from slavery to the presidency. Like most surveys, the book is organized by struggles and wars; unlike traditional overviews, the facts are filtered through the eyes of a black woman with attitude to spare. This invented narrator, whose "Pap" was kidnapped as a child in Africa and whose brothers fought in World War II, does not suffer fools. Her colloquial commentary, addressed to "honey" or "chile," introduces and interprets the events. Occasionally her voice drops out, and a more textbooklike tone prevails, but mostly her presence provides the heart and soul of the story; readers will care about this information because they care about her. Nelson's oil portraits and tableaux consistently display technical virtuosity, drama, and dignity. From single-page compositions of historical personalities (Frederick Douglass, Joe Louis, Rosa Parks) and representative characters (a Revolutionary War soldier, students at Woolworth's) to full-spread, murallike scenes of a slave ship, a battle, a big band, Nelson varies the viewpoint and contrasts light and darkness to tell a riveting tale. The purpose is presented in the prologue and recast in the epilogue and author's note: "You have to know where you came from so you can move forward." Provocative and powerful, this book offers a much-needed perspective for individuals of all ages seeking to understand America's past and present.—Wendy Lukehart, Washington DC Public Library

School Library Journal

The success of Kadir Nelson’s short book and Debbie Allen’s amazing dramatization comes from the engaging narrator of this story. The unnamed elderly black woman recounts African-American history from the American Revolution to present day, blending poignant personal memories and family tales with stories of famous people and events. Allen’s memorable portrayal of this character, a powerful storyteller, turns faded past eras into vivid scenes. The tenderness of family relations mixes with hoots of Civil Rights pride and the brutal testaments of those kept “under the thumb of Jim Crow.” Noted black inventors, artists, and sports and political figures are merged gracefully and elegantly with a sweeping view of world events. Together these paint a profound, poetic picture of the heart and soul of African-American history. S.W. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award, 2012 Audies Winner © AudioFile 2011, Portland, Maine

NOVEMBER 2011 - AudioFile

The success of Kadir Nelson’s short book and Debbie Allen’s amazing dramatization comes from the engaging narrator of this story. The unnamed elderly black woman recounts African-American history from the American Revolution to present day, blending poignant personal memories and family tales with stories of famous people and events. Allen’s memorable portrayal of this character, a powerful storyteller, turns faded past eras into vivid scenes. The tenderness of family relations mixes with hoots of Civil Rights pride and the brutal testaments of those kept “under the thumb of Jim Crow.” Noted black inventors, artists, and sports and political figures are merged gracefully and elegantly with a sweeping view of world events. Together these paint a profound, poetic picture of the heart and soul of African-American history. S.W. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award, 2012 Audies Winner © AudioFile 2011, Portland, Maine

NOVEMBER 2011 - AudioFile