WHEN I HEAR SPIRITUALS

An exuberant and picturesque celebration of African American spirituals.

A Black child with dark skin and an Afro puff waxes rhapsodic about spirituals in free verse, while choruses from relevant songs accompany the youngster’s words. Sometimes the narrator feels mournful while listening to the music, and “a big lump / Gets stuck / In my throat.” The chorus from “Nobody Knows the Trouble I’ve Seen” appears. But this music can be healing, too; here, Hudson includes an excerpt from “There Is a Balm in Gilead.” And sometimes the music moves the young protagonist to “stomp my feet” and “sway to the beat”; the opposite page presents the chorus from “Bosom of Abraham.” Pairing beautifully with the well-chosen lyrics and Hudson’s rhythmic, affirming text, Ladd’s richly saturated mixed-media illustrations demonstrate the cultural and historical importance of these songs. Churchgoers lift their hands in praise, Harriet Tubman leads her people to freedom, and Martin Luther King Jr., Coretta Scott King, and John Lewis raise their voices in protest. The use of cut paper gives the artwork a heavily textured look; emotion feels carved into every spread. Thorough backmatter discusses how spirituals have allowed Black Americans to forge an identity and chronicle their history; Hudson also expands on the people and events depicted in the illustrations.

A deeply resonant work that speaks to these songs’ historical—and present—meaning.