From the critically-acclaimed writer of My Block Looks Like and Salon Saturday comes another picture book that celebrates a sacred ritual in Black culture: Sunday morning church services!
A young girl and her family wake up before the sun rises and begin their Sunday-morning routine for church. Dad greets everyone at the breakfast table with kisses while Mama presses pleats and lays edges. Soon the whole family piles into the car and sets the radio to the Gospel station.
The aisle becomes a runway as members of the congregation, dressed in their Sunday-morning best, find their seats among the pews. Once the service begins, the main character does her best to calm her nerves as she waits for her drum solo. She takes a deep breath before rat-a-tat-tatting on the snare and booming on the base. The congregation explodes with joy, rocking and swaying, praying and praising! The young girl's family looks on with pride before piling back into the car and looking forward to doing it all again next week.
Janelle Harper is passionate about creating stories that reflect the children in her Bronx community. She finds inspiration in life’s rhythms, city living, and the diverse experiences of the African diaspora. When she’s not thinking about her next book, Janelle is enthusiastically playing along with TV game shows and planning her next trip across the globe.
Frank started his journey as a graffiti artist in New Jersey, tagging walls with spray paint. It wasn’t until he visited the Louvre Museum in Paris with his dancing group that he realized painting was his true creative path. His work has been featured at Art Basel, SCOPE Art Show, and Red Dot Miami art fair, and shown at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in New York City and the Mason Fine Art gallery in Atlanta, Georgia.
He is the illustrator of over twenty children’s books, including the Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award winners Standing in the Need of Prayer and R-E-S-P-E-C-T, the Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe Award winner Jazzy Miz Mozetta, and the Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor books Little Melba and Her Big Trombone and Let the Children March. Frank was a Society of Illustrators’ Original Art Silver Medal Honoree two years in a row, for The Roots of Rap and R-E-S-P-E-C-T. His debut author-illustrated picture book is Kick Push.
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