Did you know that the United States of America has a new holiday celebrated on June 19th each year? I didn't either. When I moved from Connecticut to Florida in the mid-1980s, I heard about a day that was celebrated in St. Petersburg that I was not familiar with - Juneteenth. I'm sorry to say that it took me many years to learn what Juneteenth was.
Author Dorena Williamson wrote this board book to tell the story of Juneteenth to even the youngest of our children to explain why this day is so important to black Americans. She explains that Juneteenth celebrates the day when the last enslaved Africans became free while briefly explaining slavery, the Civil War, and that President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863. She writes about how troops had to go to Texas and that on June 19, 1965 an order was read to finally free all of the enslaved people.
Juneteenth was originally just celebrated in Texas but soon the celebration made its way to other states. Now, Juneteenth is an official national holiday celebrating the freedom of those who were enslaved in the United States.
I found that The Story of Juneteenth was an easy-to-understand book for most children and a good starting point in explaining slavery in the southern states of the United States. The brief but well thought out descriptions make this book to-the-point but allows for discussion when the child has questions.
I received this book from Hachette Book Group for free in exchange for an honest review.
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