Go Forth and Tell

Starred review from November 20, 2023
“Augusta Braxton Baker grew up to be a master storyteller. But before that she was an amazing story listener,” begins this glowing account of legendary storytelling librarian Baker (1911–1998). Starting with her Baltimore childhood, where her grandmother “shaped incredible worlds and passed them down,” McDaniel’s telling highlights Baker’s route to helping “other people become better listeners.” Following teacher’s college, Baker becomes a children’s librarian at the 135th Street branch of the New York Public Library. Though many of the Harlem branch’s youngest patrons are Black—among them James Baldwin and Audre Lorde—the library’s books featuring Black characters are “JUST PLAIN WRONG.” Wanting “Black children to have heroes that rose up and looked, talked, and shined bright,” she creates a collection to that end, disseminates her book lists widely, and spends her career promoting the storytelling she has loved since childhood. Harrison’s intricate mixed-media collages employ shifting scale to bring to life this vital history of a vital figure. An author’s note follows. Ages 5–8.

Starred review from November 1, 2023
Grades K-3 *Starred Review* Growing up in Baltimore, Maryland, Augusta Braxton Baker eagerly listened to her grandmother's tales of Br'er Rabbit and King Arthur, becoming aware that heroes often use their smarts to get out of trouble. She used this lesson throughout her life, attending teacher's college in New York, honing her skills as a storyteller, and becoming a children's librarian at the 135th Street branch of the New York Public Library in Harlem. There she worked to right the wrongs that she saw, to locate positive stories featuring African Americans, and to encourage and inspire her patrons, young and old, who included James Baldwin, Audre Lorde, Carter Woodson, Virginia Hamilton, and Walter Dean Myers. Brimming with color and texture, Harrison's illustrations incorporate acrylics, pen, and mixed-media collage elements that bestow a pleasing three-dimensional look to the scenes. Some of the most effective illustrations portray emotions: children listening to her tales, rapt with attention; Baker's horror at some of the racist titles she found on the library shelves; and her kind but firm demeanor with Bert and Ernie when appearing on Sesame Street. Appended with a time line, sources, and author's note, this makes a worthy addition to library collections; pair with Anika Aldamuy Denise's picture-book biography on Pura Belpr�, Planting Stories (2019).

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Starred review from December 1, 2023
A tribute to the storied lioness of the New York Public Library. Raised in Baltimore on her grandmother's tales, Augusta Braxton Baker (1911-1998) grew up with the deep certainty that stories are powerful. Powerful enough to make Augusta realize her true calling, "guiding children of all ages through the wide and wonderful spaces of her stories." Powerful enough to bring her to the 135th Street Branch of the NYPL, where she introduced young readers such as James Baldwin and Audre Lorde to the words that would inspire them to write their own. Powerful enough to anchor Augusta's lifelong advocacy for uplifting representations of Black people, to forge a network of educator activists from Carter G. Woodson to Charlemae Rollins, and to send Augusta around the world to teach and tell her stories. Intricate details will draw novice readers back to the pages, while more experienced readers will find a treasure trove of biographical sources. There's thoughtfulness here in the craft and pacing of her prose, certainly; reverence, too, in the textured layers of Harrison's mixed-media and visual storytelling. But more than anything, simple care is evident. Care for a Black librarian who sought out every gap a tale could bridge, who shattered barriers to ensure Black children would see themselves on library shelves, and whose legacy continues to this day exactly as it began--in the thrall of good stories. The Master Storyteller returns to storytime at last. (author's note, timeline, sources) (Picture-book biography. 4-8)

COPYRIGHT(2023) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Starred review from January 1, 2024
Few people have had more of an impact on African American children's literature than griot, educator, and librarian Augusta Baker (1911�? 1998). Her path to becoming a master storyteller began in Baltimore with listening to her grandmother's folktales. A class on folklore in college further inspired her, and she became a children's librarian in Harlem. It became apparent that while most of the children in the library were Black, most books available to them had no Black characters, and the ones that did "were RUDE, MEAN, and JUST PLAIN WRONG." Baker created a book collection that showcased realistic and positive depictions of African Americans and shared her knowledge with other educators and librarians. Her work carried her to becoming the first Black coordinator of children's services for all of New York Public Library, hosting radio shows, teaching classes, and traveling the country as the "Mistress of Storytelling." McDaniel gives an account of Baker's life that is as celebratory as the heroes in her folktales, attesting that Baker internalized the message that "where there's a will, there's a way." Harrison's exuberant mixed-media-collage illustrations capture the vibrancy of both the storyteller and her stories, creating worlds and words that leap off pages. Back matter includes a timeline, citations, and an author's note, where McDaniel celebrates her own childhood librarian. Eboni Njoku

(Copyright 2024 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

Starred review from March 29, 2024

K-Gr 4-This is a blissful walk around the imagination for anyone who has ever been told, or has listened to, a transporting piece of storytelling. Baker had a grandmother who told tales from across the ages and of all genres, but what they had in common, other than Baker's alert, listening ears, were characters that looked defeated but who in the end were victorious. A young librarian in Harlem, Baker was still at home in the world of books, but what she found in the way of authentic Black representation was missing; she created a collection including the works of writers and illustrators who would give Harlem's children the books in which they would see themselves conquering the world. This is a wall-to-wall poetry-filled biography, with scenes of Baker hugging the buildings and cityscapes of her surroundings, towering over the classrooms, and demonstrating her immoveable presence in all of Harrison's quilt-colored, patched-together, joyfully two-dimensional illustrations. Of course the book is catnip for librarians and storytellers, but for children, too; the colors, books, titles, typeface, faces, people, streets, and words that overflow these pages work in tandem with the text to celebrate a life in stories and a life in service to others. VERDICT An essential purchase not to be missed-what a wonderful person, and what a worthy life.-Ginnie Abbott

Copyright 2024 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

January 1, 2024
Few people have had more of an impact on African American children's literature than griot, educator, and librarian Augusta Baker (1911-1998). Her path to becoming a master storyteller began in Baltimore with listening to her grandmother's folktales. A class on folklore in college further inspired her, and she became a children's librarian in Harlem. It became apparent that while most of the children in the library were Black, most books available to them had no Black characters, and the ones that did "were RUDE, MEAN, and JUST PLAIN WRONG." Baker created a book collection that showcased realistic and positive depictions of African Americans and shared her knowledge with other educators and librarians. Her work carried her to becoming the first Black coordinator of children's services for all of New York Public Library, hosting radio shows, teaching classes, and traveling the country as the "Mistress of Storytelling." McDaniel gives an account of Baker's life that is as celebratory as the heroes in her folktales, attesting that Baker internalized the message that "where there's a will, there's a way." Harrison's exuberant mixed-media-collage illustrations capture the vibrancy of both the storyteller and her stories, creating worlds and words that leap off pages. Back matter includes a timeline, citations, and an author's note, where McDaniel celebrates her own childhood librarian.

(Copyright 2024 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)