D Is for Drinking Gourd: An African American Alphabet

Sleeping Bear Alphabets

by Nancy I. Sanders, B. Lewis (Illustrator)

D is for Drinking Gourd: An African American Alphabet showcases many of the remarkable achievements of and contributions from African Americans throughout history. Evocative watercolor paintings from Caldecott Honor-winning E. B. Lewis perfectly capture the spirit of each letter topics poem and expository text.

Genres: Picture Books, Cultural, Childrens, African American, Nonfiction, History, Poetry

40 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 2007

About the author

Nancy I. Sanders is the bestselling and award-winning children's author of over 100 books. Her children's books include D IS FOR DRINKING GOURD: AN AFRICAN AMERICAN ALPHABET, AMERICA'S BLACK FOUNDERS, and FREDERICK DOUGLASS FOR KIDS. She loves to teach writers at writing conferences and teleclasses so that they can take their writing career to the next level. Her workshops are based on her groundbreaking book, YES! YOU CAN LEARN HOW TO WRITE CHILDREN'S BOOKS, GET THEM PUBLISHED, AND BUILD A SUCCESSFUL WRITING CAREER. Nancy and her husband Jeff live near Los Angeles.

Reviews

[Autumn Kearney · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an educational, informative, and beautifully illustrated book. I learned the history of African Americans. But I still have no idea what a drinking gourd is or how it is made.

[J-Lynn Van Pelt · Rating 4 out of 5]

This alphabet book is not for beginning readers, but for upper elementary school students.

I got to meet the illustrator, E.B. Lewis at the American Association of School Librarian's annual conference in Reno. He teaches art at a university, but professes that illustrating children's books that have a positive message about African American culture is his passion. He achieves that with D is for Drinking Gourd which is powerfully written by Nancy I. Sanders.

Every page contains a positive and encouraging image of Black Americans throughout American history except for the "S" page which honestly discusses slavery and slave rebellions.

This book goes a long way toward writing an inclusive American history and is a fantastic book to prompt discussion and learning about African American history and culture.

[Donna McDine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Without the steadfast belief of abolitionists to end slavery the United States of America would not be what it is today. D is for Drinking Gourd – An African American Alphabet brings forth the journey of freedom and accomplishments through the alphabet and rhyme. Each keyword featured is accompanied with a historical description to the particular era, teaching about this pivotal time in American history.

From abolitionists to Zion the reader will find themselves soaking up all that history has to offer in this delightful combination of history and illustrations.

The mesmerizing words of Nancy Sanders and awe inspiring illustrations of E.B. Lewis will have you reading D is for Drinking Gourd – An African American Alphabet over and over again. Run, don’t walk and purchase your copy today to find out what is in between A and Z.

[Crista Goluch · Rating 5 out of 5]

African American’s traveling in the Underground Railroad referred to the bigger dipper as a drinking gourd as they were following it to freedom. This is just one of the many facts that you discover while reading this remarkable picture book. Whether you read only the informative and clever verse, or the more detailed side paragraphs, you will learn so much about African American Culture. The beautiful watercolor illustrations are bold where they need to be and soft when it is appropriate. Sanders are able to touch on events as far back as Lewis and Clark to the modern day Olympics without losing the respect and honor that they deserve. This book could easily be used in every classroom for any student.

[Shannon Cate · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a great introduction to Black history for even the youngest children. Just the letters and words and pictures can introduce a toddler to people or events that they associate with beautiful art. As they grow, the rhymes of the main text allow for a little more information and may inspire questions about more detail. That detail is then available in the sidebars which can interest children who are reading independently and have outgrown other "ABC" books. I love how this book has grown with my children, inspiring all kinds of conversation about American history (Black history = American history), including conversation about difficult, sad things that might be quite hard to bring up in other contexts. And the art is gorgeous.

[Sharon · Rating 5 out of 5]

This would essentially be a great story to share with students during Black History Months because it provides a plethora of significant moments in history that were groundbreaking for different historical African American figures. Furthermore, students could use this book as introduction before researching more information on different heroes mentioned in this book. They could share or do a role play of these heroes as a presentation to the class.

[Beth · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a TERRIFIC title to share with those you love during Black History Month. The double-page spread of beautiful illustrations and the information on each page is fabulous! If sharing this book with a reading-age child have them read the page with the rhyming short verse first, then read them the longer accompanying page. Enjoy!

[Bailey]

I really enjoyed this alphabet book. This would be a great book to use when talking about African American history during social studies. I could use this book for literacy by having the students make their own alphabet book about African American history after we have finished a unit on that topic.

[Blakeley Norris · Rating 5 out of 5]

This would be good to use during black history month. This is a book that is based on the African American culture. It has many different terms, people, and places that relate to African Americans. It would be good to use in a history class too.

[Liliana · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a wonderful book to use during Black History month. In this book, it talks about different important events in African American History. This book contains excellent illustrations and highlights important events/ topics.

[Jessica Bennett · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is such a cool book of poems that goes through the alphabet using terms that relate to African American history. On each page, there are side notes that talk about a specific part of the Civil Rights movement. I would read this book to the younger grades.

[Shantia Redd · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is filled with rhymes. The author list an important event in African American history to accompany each letter of the alphabet. This book helps to establish letter sounds and also introduces the children to new vocabulary.

[Angela · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book. Beautifully illustrated by E.B. Lewis. Although it's a children's book, there is a lot we can all learn regarding the contributions of African Americans to our society. Using the alphabet is a clever way of doing that.

[Hannah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful picture book that can be integrated into a history lesson.

[Cece · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a great book to have in a social studies class year round or during. It is a great book for students to read about all the different accomplishments of African Americans throughout history.

[Lidra West · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beatiful book usign alphbets to tell of the different adventures of African Americans.

[Sam Malcolm · Rating 3 out of 5]

The is a great book to introduce during black history month, but also could be used for comparing and contrasting with the "G is for Georgia" book.

[Sharon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Make learning the alphabet culturally relevant with an African twist. Great for all ages.

[Alesha M]

Genre: Nonfiction - Picture Book

Bibliography: Sanders, N. I. (2009). D is for drinking gourd: An African American alphabet. Place of publication not identified: Sleeping Bear Pr.

Response: Using beautiful watercolor illustrations, Nancy Sanders creates a segmented story that highlights important events in African American history, for instance, displaying inventors that created popular products we use today, or jazz music that was invented and popularized by Black musicians. While some of the topics can be heavy, such as slavery, this is a great addition to a library and classroom as it discusses PoC history and its numerous accomplishments. The illustrations add another dimension to the words and captivate the reader, along with the stylistic poetic writing choice that helps to introduce children to complex words and ideas easier. While this book is an alphabet, I would give it to older elementary school students, as they may have an easier time processing concepts such as slavery, which could allow for better in-class discussions and talks.

[Taylor Gray · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought that this book was so well-thought out and portrayed in a way that a child and adult can enjoy. The alphabet aspect of the book makes it a learning factor in children, but the added context behind each word also helps. In this book, each page represented an African American cultural aspect. Not only that, but it also had historical context on each page beside the term. For example, there was "L" for Little Rock Nine; on the page next to it, there was historical context describing what the Little Rock Nine was, where it took place, and more fun facts about that topic. This book is great to have in a classroom and I will be adding it in the near future!

[Sarah Bunker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Summary: This book is an African American alphabet. Each letter recognizes an achievement or contribution of the African American community in history.

Thoughts: I really love this book as it recognized a lot of things that I haven't gotten the chance to learn about before. It highlights some incredible people who did great things with the gifts that they have.

Application: I would have my students to choose one of the letters and do some more research about the achievement/contribution. I would challenge them to find a book about it and share it with the class.

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was really interesting and is a great way to bring in diversity and culture into the classroom. However, I feel the text was a bit long and would be hard for young kids to grasp but then I feel that the alphabet portion of it would make it too young for older grades.

[Lindsey Adams · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is perfect for older children. While learning about black history and how important is to learn about it, students are able to read through time and are able to see some illustrations to capture that. I think this book would be perfect during Black History Month.

[Angelique Loeffler · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful watercolor paintings and a short poem for each letter of the alphabet. Side bars provide more detailed imformation about each theme.

[Lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting words... Good information

[Alissah Paquette · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great book that shares tons of factual information. This is a book that people of all ages can learn something new from. This book has beautiful illustrations.

[Lisa Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have seen a lot of alphabet books and wanted to pick something different. I try and pick ABC books that are of things outside of most children's worlds.

[Amanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved each focus of the alphabet shared in verse along with the sidebars with all of the historical context.

[Checkthebook · Rating 3 out of 5]

This picture book is an excellent introduction to Black history. For any age! Even middle schoolers should read it. Very cool book, and comprehensive.

[Jordan Devine · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a great book. I loved how it went by the alphabet and on the side it gave more detail which gave great background.