I really enjoyed learning about Congo Square as a place designated for slaves to congregate in New Orleans to hold markets, dance, and socialize on Sundays. Even the youngest readers can understand the progression through the days of the week counting down to Sunday and the anticipation involved for people who knew freedom no other day. Older readers will connect the poetic prose to some of the known horrors of slavery and think more deeply about the idea that wood was kept on the fire around the clock by someone unseen, unknown. The mere fact that there was a day of rest protected by law was somewhat remarkable considering slavery’s awful history. The foreword and the author’s notes both give readers more information to understand Congo Square and slavery in New Orleans. I would have loved for a bibliography to be included for readers to have sources identified to locate more information.
Title: Freedom in Congo Square
Author: Carole Boston Weatherford
Illustrator: R. Gregory Christie
Published 2016 by Little Bee Books
ISBN: 978-1-4998-0103-3
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