ACCESS DIGITIZED EDITION
Guide/Reviews Database
PICTURE BOOKS
Hurston, Zora Neale

Magnolia Flower

40 pp. | HarperCollins/Harper | September, 2022 | Trade ISBN 978-0-06-309831-2 $19.99
(2) K-3 Adapted by Ibram X. Kendi. Illustrated by Loveis Wise. Kendi's (Stamped, rev. 5/20) adaptation of a short story by Hurston softens (or leaves out) the original's violence, adds elements that are explained in a historical endnote, and retains the narrative frame of a "Mighty River" telling a brook a story about people in love. The tale begins with Bentley, who escapes enslavement and marries Swift Deer, a Cherokee woman. They have a daughter they name ­Magnolia Flower, who grows up during the Civil War and falls in love with a brown-skinned man named John. Bentley doesn't approve of John and locks him up to keep the lovers apart. Magnolia Flower frees him and they run away. The story ends with their return to the banks of the river forty years later. Both the lyrical text and the flowing digital illustrations let the theme of love running through Hurston's stories shine. Wise's (The People Remember, rev. 11/21; Ablaze with Color, rev. 3/22) brightly colored images capture the beauty of the forest and the love between ­Magnolia Flower and John. In his appended author's note, Kendi explains his intention behind adapting a short story for adults as a picture-book text: "The earlier we expose our children to our literary treasures--to our literary legends like Hurston--the ­better."
Reviewer: Nicholl Denice Montgomery | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2022

RELATED 

PICTURE BOOKS

Born Ready
by Patterson, Jodie
PICTURE BOOKS

The House of Grass and Sky
by Ray, Mary Lyn
PICTURE BOOKS

The Dog's Gardener
by Storms, Patricia
PICTURE BOOKS

And I Paint It
by Kephart, Beth
PICTURE BOOKS

Poem in My Pocket
by Tougas, Chris
More

Get connected. Join our global community of more than 200,000 librarians and educators.

This coverage is free for all visitors. Your support makes this possible.

We are currently offering this content for free. Sign up now to activate your personal profile, where you can save articles for future viewing.

ALREADY A SUBSCRIBER?