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Oh, sure, you’ll still be in the same bed with the same
sheets and jammies. Your room will be the same room you went
to sleep in. Your mom will still be your mom and your dad
will still be your dad – but it’ll be a whole new day with
new possibilities. As you’ll see in the new book All
Different Now by Angela Johnson, illustrated by E.B.
Lewis, one day can really mean a lot.
Every morning, the breeze from the gulf woke everyone up,
telling them it was time to start the day in the fields
beneath the hot Texas sun. Just like every other day, it was
time to work and work some more – but there was one day when
everything was different, though nobody knew it at first.
And then someone told someone else on the edge of the gulf.
And that someone took the word to town, and told friends.
The friends were so happy that they spread the message
around the country. The news was like a wave in the ocean
and pretty soon, everyone in the fields knew – and they were
happy.
They knew that “a Union general had read from a balcony”
that everyone was free – not just now, but “forever.” From
that minute forward, nothing would be like it was the day
before. Everything would “be all different now.”
People sang their happiness with faces raised. Others –
those who didn’t think they’d ever see it – cried tears of
joy. Some could hardly believe that day had come and they
“whispered things” to one another.
Since nobody was being forced to work in the fields that
day, they all went to the beach for a picnic by the water.
Even the sand was changed. Dancing felt new. Food tasted
different for those who were free for the first time. Even
stories sounded sweeter. And at the end of the day, it was
especially nice to walk next to cotton fields that didn’t
demand work. It was nice to go to bed, knowing that the next
morning and every one after that, the sun would wake
everyone up and nothing would ever be the same…
In her notes, author Angela Johnson says that a photo of her
great-grandparents led her to wonder how they celebrated
when they learned of their freedom which, because they were
slaves in Texas, came more than two years after the signing
of the Emancipation Proclamation. That’s a great way to
introduce the pages of historical overview about
Emancipation and Juneteenth that follow, but be sure to read
the illustrator’s note, too. E.B. Lewis writes about making
this book come alive, which he calls his “biggest
challenge.”
The challenge for you, I think, is talking your
three-to-seven-year-old into letting go of this book now and
then because they’ll want to hold fast to it. As for you, if
you’re prone to saying no to “just one more book,” then “All
Different Now” might change your mind. |
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