God Bless the Child
By Billie Holiday and Arthur Herzog Jr.
Illustrated by Jerry Pinkney

"Mama may have,
Papa may have,
But God bless the child
That's got his own!
That's got his own."
-- God Bless the Child

      Jerry Pinkney collects vintage photographs, and it was those photos, along with the history of sharecroppers and their migration to the north, that inspired Pinkney to breathe new life into Billie Holiday’s song “God Bless the Children” – not that the song needed new life, but it is a the perfect choice for the message Pinkney is trying to convey to young African-American readers--which is their history.

      The large book displays some memorable illustrations, each stretching across two pages. The illustrations are scenes in the life of a sharecropper family in the thirties: scenes of Bible reading, horse playing, working in the field, loading the car to move up north and scenes of the working and living in an industrial city. With the illustrations are the words to the song “God Bless the Child.” The song becomes a beautiful story brought to life with these detailed, expressive images. They are absolutely beautiful; I just couldn’t get enough of them. A free CD of Holiday’s God Bless the Child can be found at the back of the book.

     God Bless the Child is a must for all libraries.