Zora Neale Hurston and Ibram X. Kendi, ill. by Loveis Wise. HarperCollins, $19.99 (40p) ISBN 978-0-06-309831-2

Kendy (anti-racist baby) adapts a short story by Hurston (1891-1960) in this visually stunning foray into folklore, linked by a mighty river to a babbling brook. Asked to talk about people in love, the river remembers Bentley, a black man who escaped slavery, and Swift Deer, a Cherokee woman who fled “her own trail of tears.” They marry, live in “a whole village of runaways/…on an island of freedom/in a vast sea of ​​slavery”, and they have a daughter, Magnolia Flower, who arrives “at the time of the hatching of the flowers”. During Magnolia’s lifetime, the war on slavery came and went: “Black people were marching/freeing themselves on the lands of Swift Deer’s ancestors.” Then John, a dark-skinned man who “had a lot of words”, wins the heart of a now grown Magnolia despite her father’s disapproval, and they take to the river to row – returning 47 years later. Digital illustrations by Wise (people remember) provide a bountiful, nature-centered accompaniment to this romance set in the changing landscape of freedom for Black and Indigenous peoples. A historical note and author’s note contextualize themes of oppression, resistance, and love, as well as Hurston’s expertise in black folklore. 4 to 8 years old. (seven.)

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