ALA Booklist (Tue Feb 28 00:00:00 CST 2023)

It's June 19, 1865, and Huldah's tenth birthday, but festivities take on more significance for the enslaved girl when soldiers arrive at the Texas plantation where she lives. When one soldier reads President Abraham Lincoln's proclamation declaring all enslaved people free, the newly emancipated Black people deem June 19 a day of jubilee and freedom. They quickly prepare to celebrate as children gather branches for flagpoles, men carve the branches with African symbols of independence, and women stitch together flags reminiscent of patchwork quilts. Taylor aptly depicts this story through colorful woven fabrics and folk art-style, quilted scenes. Huldah's birthday is not forgotten, however. After donning her white birthday dress, the girl is presented with her own freedom flag and a white star, which she sews on the flag to help guide her on her new path. A concluding author's note explains her impetus for the picture book, but does not include more background on Juneteenth. Complete the history with Alice Faye Duncan's Opal Lee and What It Means to Be Free (2022).

Horn Book (Fri Jan 13 00:00:00 CST 2023)

Huldah, a young Black girl in Texas, just so happens to be celebrating her tenth birthday on June 19, 1865. Expecting to wake up to songs from her family, she is instead awakened by soldiers on horseback riding through the plantation. Those soldiers arrive with a gift of their own: a proclamation that all enslaved people have been freed. The women immediately begin to sew freedom flags as the elders call for a jubilee. The children gather branches to use as flagpoles, onto which the men carve intricate symbols and signs. It's quite some time before Huldah remembers that it is also her special day. To commemorate it, she takes a reflective walk into the woods and "captures a sunbeam." When she returns, she finds that the community has remembered her birthday, and she is presented with a flag of her very own. Huldah's family ends the day by rejoicing in their new liberation under the stars. Both lyrical and descriptive, Huldah's voice conveys the joy that is found in freedom. Adding to the warm brilliance of the story are Taylor's illustrations of expertly hand-sewn and quilted art pieces. With every page depicting the contributions of the newly liberated community, the scenes and stylized bodies exhibit a time-honored art. A great introduction to the federal holiday. An author's note tells more about the genesis of the book and about the art of flag making, or vexillography. Eboni Njoku

Kirkus Reviews

An exploration of the origins of Juneteenth.It's June 19, 1865, and as an enslaved Texan African American child named Huldah gets ready to celebrate their 10th birthday, soldiers arrive at the plantation to inform the inhabitants that slavery has ended and in fact has been over for two years. Though the plantation owners are angry, the formerly enslaved people rush to celebrate by sewing freedom flags. Created with fabric collage, the art in this work from quilter Taylor is stunning. The craftsmanship and attention to detail are breathtaking, and in an author's note, Taylor shares that it took her over a year to create the quilts used for the book. However, the story offers a somewhat rosy depiction of the period. Not only does Huldah know their birthday and age, they have the double luxury of celebrating the day with their mother with tea cakes. The book is also thin on factual information. While in her author's note, Taylor describes how she learned about Juneteenth in 2014 and why she was inspired to write and illustrate this work, she doesn't include background on this holiday or the actual Juneteenth flag, which was created in 1997 by activist Ben Haith. Those seeking a more detailed history should pair this with Juneteenth (2006) by Vaunda Micheaux Nelson and Drew Nelson, illustrated by Mark Schroder, and All Different Now (2014) by Angela Johnson, illustrated by E.B. Lewis. (This book was reviewed digitally.)Visually dazzling but should be supplemented with additional resources for a more comprehensive look at Juneteenth. (Historical picture book. 5-9)

Publishers Weekly (Fri Oct 06 00:00:00 CDT 2023)

Basing this moving debut on a Juneteenth story quilt that she created, Taylor depicts the events of the first Juneteenth from the perspective of Huldah, an African American child whose 10th birthday is on June 19, 1865. Quilted images that employ myriad patterns and textures tell the story alongside lines that focus on reactions of formerly enslaved individuals in Texas. Following the announcement, women quilt freedom flags, children gather branches to make flagpoles, men carve designs into the wood, and Huldah climbs her favorite tree to capture sunlight in a jar. In a turn of events that melds the child’s birthday with the greater celebration, the community gives Huldah a hand-sewn freedom flag, to which she adds a star for freedom and the sunbeam for guidance. It’s a discussion-starting, personal-feeling portrait of a communal celebration. An author’s note concludes. Ages 4–8. (Jan.)

School Library Journal (Sun Jan 01 00:00:00 CST 2023)

K-Gr 4 —A colorful story about Huldah, a young enslaved girl who celebrates her 10th birthday and gains freedom on the same day: Juneteenth. Huldah, her family, and the other enslaved people at a Texas plantation are surprisingly notified of their freedom on June 19, 1865 by white soldiers. Shouts of joy, tears, and cheers soar across the plantation, and they immediately begin sewing freedom flags to commemorate the occasion. Huldah's birthday is the beginning of a new life and the start of freedom, not just for herself, but for Black people in the South who had been enslaved. The illustrations quilted by Taylor display strong artistic use of color, texture, movement, stitching, and symbols. Each page has vibrant colors that grab readers at first glance. Throughout the book, Huldah's black hair rests in different colored scarves, with an afro puff sitting on the back of her head. She and the people in the story are beautiful shades of brown, their deeply melanated faces free from facial features so readers may use their imaginations to visualize the characters' expressions. Taylor effectively breathes life into the characters, even those muddled in the background, by showing their humanity in each page. The story brings Black culture to the forefront through illustrations of dark skin, freedom songs, and African symbolism and garb. VERDICT A story of triumph and celebration, this book is appropriate for elementary school libraries. It would also be an asset in a classroom library or as part of an elementary school lesson on Juneteenth for kindergarten through fourth grade students.—Matia Edwards