''Freedom in Congo Square'' is a 2016 poetic nonfiction

picture book A picture book combines visual and verbal narratives in a book format, most often aimed at young children. With the narrative told primarily through text, they are distinct from comics, which do so primarily through sequential images. The ima ...

by Carole Boston Weatherford, and illustrated by R. Gregory Christie. It was published in hardcover by Little Bee Books. The book provides an account of 19th-century slaves in

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

who were able to gather in one place on Sundays:

Congo Square Congo Square () is an open space, now within Louis Armstrong Park, which is located in the Tremé neighborhood of New Orleans, Louisiana, just across Rampart Street north of the French Quarter. The square is famous for its influence on the ...

. In addition to the book's main text, "an introduction and afterword provide further historic detail." In 2017, the book received a

Caldecott Honor The Randolph Caldecott Medal, frequently shortened to just the Caldecott, annually recognizes the preceding year's "most distinguished American picture book for children". It is awarded to the illustrator by the Association for Library Service ...

and

Coretta Scott King Award The Coretta Scott King Award is an annual award presented by the Coretta Scott King Book Award Round Table, part of the American Library Association (ALA). Named for Coretta Scott King, wife of Martin Luther King Jr., this award recognizes o ...

honor for its illustrations.

Style

''Freedom in Congo Square'' is written in rhyming

couplets In poetry, a couplet ( ) or distich ( ) is a pair of successive lines that rhyme and have the same metre. A couplet may be formal (closed) or run-on (open). In a formal (closed) couplet, each of the two lines is end-stopped, implying that there ...

Reception

Reviews

''Freedom in Congo Square'' was well received by critics, including starred reviews from ''

Booklist ''Booklist'' is a publication of the American Library Association that provides critical reviews of books and audiovisual materials for all ages. ''Booklist''s primary audience consists of libraries, educators, and booksellers. The magazine is ...

'' and ''

Kirkus Reviews ''Kirkus Reviews'' is an American book review magazine founded in 1933 by Virginia Kirkus. The magazine's publisher, Kirkus Media, is headquartered in New York City. ''Kirkus Reviews'' confers the annual Kirkus Prize to authors of fiction, no ...

''. On behalf of ''Booklist,'' Amina Chaudhri described the book as "subtle and layered", while ''

Shelf Awareness Shelf Awareness is an American publishing company that produces two e-zines focused on bookselling, books, and book reviews: ''Shelf Awareness'' is aimed at general consumers, while ''Shelf Awareness Pro'' caters for industry professionals. ...

s Karin Snelson referred to it as "graceful ndgorgeous". ''Kirkus Reviews'' referred to the lyrical writing as "powerful and evocative, providing a strong and emotional window into the world of the slave". Chaudhri discussed how "through sparse, deliberate language, Weatherford tangibly captures the anticipation of those Sundays" in Congo Park. According to ''

Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of ...

'', Weatherford "succeeds in evoking a world where prospect of Sunday becomes a way to withstand relentless toil and oppression" but "hits a few flat notes with her rhyming". Chaudhri further wrote, "The blunt words are richly supplemented by illustrations reminiscent of

Jacob Lawrence Jacob Armstead Lawrence (September 7, 1917 – June 9, 2000) was an American painter known for his portrayal of African-American historical subjects and contemporary life. Lawrence referred to his style as "dynamic cubism", an art form populariz ...

’s work. Christie elegantly renders people's gestures in chalk, capturing their energy or lack of, depending on the context". Chaudri concluded, "This is an important story, beautifully told." Similarly, Snelson finished their review by writing, "This is a powerful testimony to the resilience of the human spirit and a fine conversation starter".

Awards and honors

''Freedom in Congo Square'' is a

Junior Library Guild Junior Library Guild, formerly the Junior Literary Guild, is a commercial Book sales club, book club devoted to juvenile literature. It was created in 1929 as one of the enterprises of the Literary Guild, an adult book club created in 1927 by Samue ...

book. ''

The Horn Book Magazine ''The Horn Book Magazine'', founded in Boston in 1924, is the oldest bimonthly magazine dedicated to reviewing children's literature. It began as a "suggestive purchase list" prepared by Bertha Mahony and Elinor Whitney Field, proprietors of t ...

'', ''

'', the

New York Public Library The New York Public Library (NYPL) is a public library system in New York City. With nearly 53 million items and 92 locations, the New York Public Library is the second-largest public library in the United States behind the Library of Congress a ...

, ''

The New York Times Book Review ''The New York Times Book Review'' (''NYTBR'') is a weekly paper-magazine supplement to the Sunday edition of ''The New York Times'' in which current non-fiction and fiction books are reviewed. It is one of the most influential and widely rea ...

'', and ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'' named ''Freedom in Congo Square'' one of the best picture books of 2016. ''

'' also included ''Freedom in Congo Square'' on its "Booklist Editors' Choice: Books for Youth" and "Top 10 Multicultural Nonfiction for Youth" lists. The following year,

Bank Street College of Education Bank Street College of Education is a private school and graduate school in New York City. It consists of a graduate-only teacher training college and an independent nursery-through-8th-grade school. In 2020 the graduate school had about 65 ful ...

named it as a book of "outstanding merit" for children ages five to nine.

International Literacy Association The International Literacy Association (ILA), formerly the International Reading Association (IRA), is an international global advocacy and member professional organization that was created in 1956 to improve reading instruction, facilitate dial ...

(CL/R SIG) included it among their "Notable Books for a Global Society", Capitol Choices named it among their "Noteworthy Books for Children" ages seven to ten, and the

Association for Library Service to Children The Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC) is a division of the American Library Association. ALSC has over 4,000 members, including children, experts in children's literature, publishers, faculty members, and other adults. The Associa ...

named it among their "Notable Children's Books". In 2016, ''Freedom in Congo Square'' was an honor book for the

for Illustrator. The following year, it won the

Charlotte Zolotow Award The Charlotte Zolotow Award is an American literary award presented annually for outstanding writing in a picture book published in the United States during the preceding year. By contrast, the Caldecott Medal is for outstanding illustration in a ...

and was an honor book for the

Caldecott Medal The Randolph Caldecott Medal, frequently shortened to just the Caldecott, annually recognizes the preceding year's "most distinguished American picture book for children". It is awarded to the illustrator by the Association for Library Service ...

Adaptations

In July 2017, a 12-minute film by Dreamscape was released. In addition to the text of the book, the film includes what ''

'' reviewer Brian Wilson described as a "lengthy but informative foreword, penned by historian and Congo Square expert Freddi Williams Evans". During the film, sound effects, such as mooing cows, play while narrator JD Jackson reads through the text describing the slaves' work week. The background music changes as Sunday arrives, switching to African-inspired drum music. At the end of the film, Jackson reads the note from the end of the book. ''Booklist'' and ''

School Library Journal ''School Library Journal'' (''SLJ'') is an American monthly magazine containing reviews and other articles for school librarians, media specialists, and public librarians who work with young people. Articles cover a wide variety of topics, wi ...

'' provided the film starred reviews. Wilson described the film as a "moving presentation of Carole Boston Weatherford's powerful nonfiction picture book", while ''School Library Journal'''s Lonna Pierce referred to is as "transcendent and inspiring". Wilson praised "JD Jackson's heartfelt narration", which Pierce described as "rich", noting that it "weaves history, culture, music, and dance together into a vibrant cloth". Wilson also discussed the "effective sound effects", which he found "add to the somber mood as the animated figures, with their bodies sometimes bent at painful angles, are seen working throughout the week". Pierce highlighted "Christie's childlike, abstract cut-paper bodies", which "seem to leap off the screen, arms waving and tambourines shaking to the rhythmic drums, and the hypnotic music varies with each scene". ''Booklist'' also included the ''Freedom in Congo Square'' film on their 2017 "Booklist Editors' Choice: Video" list.

References

{{reflist 2016 children's books American picture books Caldecott Honor–winning works Children's books set in New Orleans Children's books set in the 19th century Children's books about African-American history