Starred Review ALA Booklist (Tue Feb 01 00:00:00 CST 2011)

Starred Review This stirring picture book (published in conjunction with the Museum of Modern Art and the Phillips Collection) brings together the 60 panels of Lawrence's epic narrative Migration series, which he created in the years 1940-41. They tell of the journey of African Americans who left their homes in the South around the time of World War I and traveled in search of work and better lives in the northern industrial cities. Lawrence is a storyteller with words as well as pictures: his captions and his own 1992 introduction to this book are the best commentary on his work. To me, migration means movement, he says, and the rhythmic pictures show people--alone and together--leaving, walking, waiting, working, traveling the route to possibility. The sequence isn't linear; as in family stories, the pictures keep circling back to what they left behind. The story is both personal and elemental: Lawrence heard about the migration from his own family, and the paintings have an immediacy that pulls you right into the frames, so that you feel you're there with the child in line at the railway station or with the woman in a tenement reading a letter from home. The repeated motifs in simple shapes and bright primary colors express the common history of ordinary people; the refrain and the migrants kept coming still applies today. A poem at the end by Walter Dean Myers also reveals the universal in the particulars of the small rope-tied case and the food that will not last the long journey. Older readers may want to go from this book to the large-size reproductions and the essays in the adult art book Jacob Lawrence: The Migration Series Many will want to see the exhibition of these paintings that is currently touring the country. (Reviewed Nov. 15, 1993)

School Library Journal Starred Review (Fri Apr 01 00:00:00 CDT 2011)

K-Gr 8 In eloquent verse, Greenfield narrates the story of the migration during the years 19151930 of more than a million African Americans from the rural South to the industrial North in search of opportunity, employment, and fair treatment. The poems are arranged under five headings that represent the stages of the journey: "The News," "Goodbyes," "The Trip," "Question," and "Up North." Feelings of fear and apprehension resonate in the poetry, in the sad and hopeful voices of the men, women, and children who gave up all they knew and embarked on an unknown future. Simple words declare their reasons for going with quiet dignity, "Goodbye crazy signs, telling me/where I can go, what I can do," and share the immense pain of leaving. "Mama's making me go./She wants me to be happy/and safe. But I see the sadness/lying deep in her eyes." Gilchrist's illustrations gracefully complement the poetry; mixed-media collages incorporating line drawings, muted watercolor washes, newsprint clippings, photos, and sepia-toned illustrations depict warm family representations as well as stark desperation and anger. Greenfield's lyricism and her clear, narrative style make this book a solid choice for independent reading and for reading aloud. The Great Migration: An American Story (HarperCollins, 1993), illustrated with Jacob Lawrence's bold and moving paintings and including a verse by Walter Dean Myers, also portrays this historical event and can be used in conjunction with Migration .— Carole Phillips, Greenacres Elementary School, Scarsdale, NY

Horn Book

Following an informative introduction, poignant poems tell the story of the Great Migration of African Americans from the South to the cities of the North. Many of the pieces give voice to unnamed travelers' thoughts; Greenfield explores the heart of each person. Gilchrist's cut paper, ephemera, paint, and processed photographs create collages, adding the right air of seriousness and history to the poetry.

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

Frequent collaborators Greenfield and Gilchrist (Brothers & Sisters: Family Poems) shape an evocative portrait of African-Americans who moved North during the Great Migration between 1915 and 1930 to escape Ku Klux Klan%E2%80%93fueled racism and to secure better lives. In forceful free verse, travelers bid farewell to what they've known. One man is conflicted about leaving his rural home (""Saying goodbye to the land puts a pain on my heart""), a woman can't wait to get away (""Goodbye, crazy signs, telling me where I can go, what I can do""), and a girl prepares to leave her mother (""I'm a little scared. I'm a lot scared. Off to the big city by myself, with just the church up there to lean on""). Chronicling the journey by train, lilting poetry and pictures capture a sense of both apprehension and hope: ""Going to make it. No matter what."" Making intriguing use of photographs of people, news headlines, maps, and painted elements, each of Gilchrist's collages has a distinctive look and lighting, ranging from conventional portraits of the travelers to more abstract images. Ages 3%E2%80%938. (Jan.)