All Night, All Day: A Child's First Book of African-American Spirituals

by Ashley Bryan

Award-winning author and illustrator Ashley Bryan has selected twenty best-known and best-loved African-American spirituals, including the title song, "All Night, All Day," and such others as "This Little Light of Mine," "O When the Saints Go Marching In," and "He's Got the Whole World in His Hands."
Glorious full-color pictures, piano accompaniment, and guitar chords help capture the spirit and essence of these timeless songs that can be enjoyed by people of every age and every level of musical skill.

Genres: Picture Books, Music, Christian, Childrens

48 pages, Paperback

First published March 30, 1991

About the author

Ashley Bryan was an illustrator, children's author, and poet.

Ashley Bryan (1923–2022) grew up to the sound of his mother singing from morning to night, and he shared the joy of song with children. A beloved illustrator, he was named a Newbery Honoree for his picture book, Freedom Over Me. He also received the Coretta Scott King—Virginia Hamilton Lifetime Achievement Award, the Laura Ingalls Wilder Award, was a May Hill Arbuthnot lecturer, a Coretta Scott King Award winner, and the recipient of countless other awards and recognitions. His books include Freedom Over Me; Sail Away; Beautiful Blackbird; Beat the Story-Drum, Pum Pum; Let It Shine; Ashley Bryan’s Book of Puppets; and What a Wonderful World. He lived in Islesford, one of the Cranberry Isles off the coast of Maine.

Reviews

[Christine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love the artwork. Also liked the sheet music.

[Tym · Rating 3 out of 5]

I, very sadly, cannot read music despite being in multiple choirs growing up. The verses however were very interesting and I hope to hear them put to music.

[Prachi]

This book is mostly pictures, in-between each picture is a a written piece of music. At the beginning I was confused on what the songs were, the back of the book said that these are hymns and spirituality songs that were sung by African American slaves. They were all collected after the civil war and the disappearance of the songs due to slavery abolition. When these songs are being sung, they are a direct piece of African Spirituality.
A lot of African American children are so far removed from their roots. This book is a great book to give a glimpse of black heritage. I think it can be an interesting read in a classroom, discussing spirituality in the classroom is something I never experienced and I don’t think a lot of schools do that. To introduce a topic such as that can be super important to see the effects of spirituality on the human psyche.

[Janet · Rating 3 out of 5]

While primarily a song book, this title is interspersed with Bryan's two page spread illustrations. Some of the illustrations are very geometric and some have very flowing lines, but all have very beautiful colors. In this title Bryan seems to be very good with illustrating water--one can almost feel it flowing.
I especially like the illustrations for "I Stood on the River of Jordan" which has lovely sailboats with multi colored sails; "Open the Window Noah" with the rolling waves, and my favorite is "Wade in the Water" where Bryan has drawn several pairs of feet with the waves washing and swirling around them--just like being at the beach.

[Ahemx · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great first book to introduce children to the power of spirituals on the human spirit. A beginner musician (like myself) will be able to find the melody with the more familiar pieces but you will also be challenged with new ones. I had to use youtube and friends to help me with the unknown pieces.
The illustration in the book were absolutely gorgeous, bright and lively, goes very well with the theme.

[Jen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the unique illustrations. I was surprised at the number of spirituals I knew but hadn't realized were spirituals. The music is accessible for guitar/voice/piano.

[Ama · Rating 3 out of 5]

Illustrations appear to be paintings, unlike Ashley Bryan's cut paper collages found in most of his recent works. I wish the book had an accompanying CD with the songs.

[GPPL Youth]

https://swanlibs.ent.sirsi.net/client...

[Brindi Michele · Rating 3 out of 5]

1992 CSKing Illustrator Honor