Standing in the Need of Prayer

Starred review from October 3, 2022
Beginning with images of chattel slavery and ending with spreads showing Black luminaries, the creators offer an absorbing rendition of the legendary spiritual: a legacy in song and portraiture that depicts Black Americans’ achievements across an anti-Black history. In Boston Weatherford’s four-line verses, those “standing in the need of prayer” describes “families enslaved and sold apart,” then “millions on the move in the Great Migration,” members of the civil rights movement, and “record-breaking athletes,” leading to a contemporary image of children: “It’s me, O Lord.” Morrison’s imagery brings Black history to life, portraying hundreds of years of experiences to the rhythm of a song that moves beyond the religious and into the broadly reverential. Weatherford and Morrison successfully elevate a classic song, rendering it as relevant and profound across time. Ages 6–9.

Starred review from October 1, 2022

Gr 1-4-"It's me, it's me, O Lord, / Standing in the need of prayer./ Not my father, not my mother, / but it's me, O Lord, / Standing in the need of prayer." A familiar spiritual is recast as a pledge to remember history and make a better future, and the lockstep of words and art feels as if Weatherford and Morrison were in harmony from the outset.A scene of a slave in shackles and another one for sale gives way to a portrait of Nat Turner and then to one that is an homage to the Emancipation Proclamation and the Great Migration. Portraits, like stepping stones through history, well-explained and documented in the back matter, reference people or moments mentioned in Weatherford's verses, from the Tuskegee Airmen, Duke Ellington and all of Black music, Ruby Bridges, Martin Luther King, Jr., Florence Griffith Joyner, Colin Kaepernick, and Black Lives Matter. The force of the words along with the glowing, sculptural lines of Morrison's paintings will draw onlookers into the journey through time and pain, to two modern children carrying protest signs and facing readers directly, ready and hopeful for what's next. VERDICT An evocative use of prayer as old-school protest with a history lesson that is as lilting as a ballad, this spiritual demands a group setting to be fully appreciated for the uplifting answers it provides.-Kimberly Olson Fakih

Copyright 2022 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from September 1, 2022
This is a moving walk through African American history, via Weatherford's expansion of the lyrics of a well-known Negro spiritual and Morrison's powerful, imagistic art. In his distinctive illustrations, Morrison employs innovative perspectives and unusual visual compositions to encourage readers to make connections between historical events, while Weatherford's poetry, per the author's note, "integrat[es] historical and contemporary events that summoned courage and faith." The book's first, wordless double-page spread looks down on the bare back of an enslaved man emerging from the bowels of a slave ship, facing a white enslaver who holds a whip. From there, the book represents significant historical and contemporary Black heroes such as Nat Turner, Ruby Bridges, Florence Joyner, and Colin Kaepernick; it also portrays important eras such as the Harlem Renaissance, the civil rights movement, the Great Migration, and the Black Lives Matter movement. A richly illustrated, informative picture book that will leave readers humming and spark a desire to learn more. Michelle H. Martin

(Copyright 2022 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

September 1, 2022
This is a moving walk through African American history, via Weatherford's expansion of the lyrics of a well-known Negro spiritual and Morrison's powerful, imagistic art. In his distinctive illustrations, Morrison employs innovative perspectives and unusual visual compositions to encourage readers to make connections between historical events, while Weatherford's poetry, per the author's note, "integrat[es] historical and contemporary events that summoned courage and faith." The book's first, wordless double-page spread looks down on the bare back of an enslaved man emerging from the bowels of a slave ship, facing a white enslaver who holds a whip. From there, the book represents significant historical and contemporary Black heroes such as Nat Turner, Ruby Bridges, Florence Joyner, and Colin Kaepernick; it also portrays important eras such as the Harlem Renaissance, the civil rights movement, the Great Migration, and the Black Lives Matter movement. A richly illustrated, informative picture book that will leave readers humming and spark a desire to learn more. Michelle H. Martin

(Copyright 2022 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

Starred review from September 1, 2022
Weatherford infuses the lyrics of a traditional spiritual with pivotal events in African American history. In four-line stanzas, references to the unseen narrator ("It's me, it's me, O Lord"), the ancestors, and present-day children alternate with the line "Standing in the need of prayer." From "families enslaved and sold apart," "a band of rebels," and "freedmen seeking kin at Emancipation" to Black students integrating all-White schools, athletes breaking records, and choirs singing of justice and freedom, African Americans from across the eras and generations are humbled before God as they face mighty obstacles with brave resistance and endurance. Readers don't need to know the song to enjoy this book; the repeated lines have the power of an incantation, inducing a meditation on all that Black people have survived and how they have thrived. Morrison's elegant, emotional, painterly illustrations highlight the beauty, dignity, and grace of the people throughout difficult and degrading circumstances. Rich earth tones, texture, and light invite the eye to linger on the varied, portrait-style compositions. Not just for faithful homes, this is a book that can spark conversations about Black history from a strengths-based lens, with culture and coping as the focus. Brief notes discuss the figures and topics referenced in the main text, and an author's note explains the importance of spirituals to the culture and to Weatherford personally. (This book was reviewed digitally.) Gorgeous and enlightening, nourishing both mind and soul. (online resources) (Historical picture book. 4-10)

COPYRIGHT(2022) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Starred review from September 1, 2022
Grades 2-5 *Starred Review* In this truly elegant picture book, award-winning author Weatherford has written new stanzas for the traditional call-and-response spiritual ""Standing in the Need of Prayer,"" highlighting various aspects of African American life and history. The accessible lyrics refer to historical events, beginning in the 1800s (""It's families enslaved and sold apart . . . It's runaways fleeing the yoke by dark"") and continuing through the twentieth century (""It's freedmen seeking kin at Emancipation . . . It's millions on the move in the Great Migration"") and on through the current day: ""It's record-breaking athletes who are so unreal . . . It's champions-turned-warriors who, in protest, kneel."" Interspersed through each line of verse is the titular refrain (""Standing in the need of prayer""), and these lines can gently swell or ebb in cadence, allowing for dramatic read-alouds. As compelling as the text is, Morrison's illustrations nearly steal the show. His vibrant, dynamic paintings (created with oil and spray paint, a nod to his previous vocation as a graffiti artist) feature dignified individuals with expressive faces, often shown in contemplative attitudes. Back matter includes a detailed explanatory key for each stanza, an author's note, and a list of online resources. While the intended audience is presumably elementary, this beautiful offering with multiple applications has wide appeal for all ages.

COPYRIGHT(2022) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

July 1, 2022
This is a moving walk through African American history, via Weatherford's expansion of the lyrics of a well-known Negro spiritual and Morrison's powerful, imagistic art. In his distinctive illustrations, Morrison employs innovative perspectives and unusual visual compositions to encourage readers to make connections between historical events, while Weatherford's poetry, per the author's note, "integrat�es] historical and contemporary events that summoned courage and faith." The book's first, wordless double-page spread looks down on the bare back of an enslaved man emerging from the bowels of a slave ship, facing a white enslaver who holds a whip. From there, the book represents significant historical and contemporary Black heroes such as Nat Turner, Ruby Bridges, Florence Joyner, and Colin Kaepernick; it also portrays important eras such as the Harlem Renaissance, the civil rights movement, the Great Migration, and the Black Lives Matter movement. A richly illustrated, informative picture book that will leave readers humming and spark a desire to learn more.

(Copyright 2022 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)