Build a House

A stunning, honest, yet age-appropriate depiction of historical injustice.

Mikai's warm-toned digital illustrations, awash in blues, greens, and browns, portray the family's closeness to the land and its steadfast commitment to land ownership.

Originally released in 2020 to honor Juneteenth's 155th anniversary, the lines of this song, now a picture book debut by Giddens, invoke the storied heritage of African American music, discussing Black chattel slavery in America. Mikai's textured digital illustrations follow the text as a Black family of three is forced to build a house and work farmland for those who "brought me here." Subsequently told to "GO," the family is soon denied the chance to make a place for themselves when the home they build is burned down--an act of violence that precedes another home's construction. Throughout, images lend emotional gravity to reiterative verse ("I learned your words/ And wrote my song/ Wrote my song/ Wrote my song"), marking a contrast between the ample bounty the family is forced to create and the oppression that makes that bounty possible, in a story of freedom stolen and home long sought. An afterword and QR code to the recorded song conclude. Ages 7-10. (Oct.)

Copyright 2022 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission.

Gr 3 Up--In a few short stanzas, this story-song encapsulates and sets to haunting, minor-key music the African American experience of being taken as slaves and forced to work, then emancipated only to continue to face endless racism. Radiant artwork shows people working hard and trying to make a living as well as the anguish of being displaced and having to start over. At the end of the book, there is a QR code that provides a link to a performance of the song by Giddens on banjo and Yo-Yo Ma on cello that helps bring the musical part of the song alive. This is a difficult topic to discuss with younger children who are typically the audience for picture books, but the historical Black experience in America gains an excellent conversation starter here, in any study about racism or the American past. VERDICT A beautifully illustrated song about the African American experience, with realistic depictions of work and experiences; this is a great choice for libraries looking for new ways to tell stories about slavery, reparations, and the ongoing need for social justice.--Debbie Tanner

Copyright 2022 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

This deeply moving portrait of the push and pull of history is made concrete through Mikai's art. . . Giddens' powerful, spare poetry, spanning centuries of American history, is breathtaking. Readers who discover her music through this book and the online recording (included as a QR code) will be forever glad they picked up this book. . . . A stunning, honest, yet age-appropriate depiction of historical injustice.
—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

In near-singable text, musician Giddens (co-founder of the Carolina Chocolate Drops) brings to life a lyrical tale of Black trials, triumphs, determination, and home. . . . Mikai's warm-toned digital illustrations, awash in blues, greens, and browns, portray the family's closeness to the land and its steadfast commitment to land ownership.
—The Horn Book

Through the rhythm of words, the lyricism of images, and the power of song, Rhiannon Giddens makes storytelling come alive. Build a House is a story to tell and to remember.
—Yo-Yo Ma