Tell All the Children Our Story: Memories and Mementos of Being Young and Black in America

by Tonya Bolden

From the first recorded birth of a black child in Jamestown, through the Revolution, the Civil War, Reconstruction, and the fight for civil rights, right on up to the present, the author brings to light how African-American children have worked and played, suffered and rejoiced.

Genres: Nonfiction, Cultural

128 pages, Hardcover

Published February 1, 2002

About the author

Author and publisher Tonya Wilyce Bolden was born on March 1, 1959, in New York City to Georgia Bolden, a homemaker, and Willie Bolden, a garment center shipping manager. Bolden grew up in Harlem in a musical family and loved to read; she attended Public M.E.S. 146, an elementary school in Manhattan, and then graduated from the Chapin School, a private secondary school, in Manhattan in 1976. Bolden attended Princeton University in New Jersey, and, in 1981, obtained her B.A. degree in Slavic languages and literature with a Russian focus. Bolden was also a University Scholar and received the Nicholas Bachko, Jr. Scholarship Prize.

Upon graduating from Princeton University, Bolden began working as a salesperson for Charles Alan, Incorporated, a dress manufacturer, while working towards her M.A. degree at Columbia University. In 1985, Bolden earned her degree in Slavic languages and literature, as well as a Certificate for Advanced Study of the Soviet Union from the Harriman Institute; after this she began working as an office coordinator for Raoulfilm, Inc., assisting in the research and development of various film and literary products. Bolden worked as an English instructor at Malcolm-King College and New Rochelle School of New Resources while serving as newsletter editor of the HARKline, a homeless shelter newsletter.

In 1990, Bolden wrote her first book, The Family Heirloom Cookbook. In 1992, Bolden co-authored a children’s book entitled Mama, I Want To Sing along with Vy Higginsen, based on Higginsen’s musical. Bolden continued publishing throughout the 1990s, releasing Starting a Business from your Home, Mail-Order and Direct Response, The Book of African-American Women: 150 Crusaders, Creators, and Uplifters, And Not Afraid to Dare: The Stories of Ten African-American Women, American Patriots: The Story of Blacks in the Military from the Revolution to Desert Storm and The Champ. Bolden became editor of the Quarterly Black Review of Books in 1994, and served as an editor for 33 Things Every Girl Should Know, in 1998. Bolden’s writing career became even more prolific in the following decade; a partial list of her works include:, Our Souls: A Celebration of Black American Artists, Maritcha: A Nineteenth Century American Girl, MLK: Journey of a King, Take-Off: American All-Girl Bands During World War II, and George Washington Carver, a book she authored in conjunction with an exhibit about the famous African American inventor created by The Field Museum in Chicago.

(source; http://www.thehistorymakers.com/biogr...)

Reviews

[Lawrence · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think all black men and black women should read books. They don’t have to be books about a certain topic, although depictions of our ancestry are important. This is a quick read to get you geared up for more intensive works. I enjoyed the narratives in the words of actual people. This book showed me how much I actually knew about my culture as it pertains to the framework of early America. Not much. This is a great gateway read. Solid book for children and young adults. I would recommend it as the tipping point to your discovery into black history in America.

[Peter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Writer Tonya Bolden’s book, Tell All The Children: Memories and Mementos of Being Young and Black in America, was published in 2001. The book is an introduction to the history of Black Americans focused on the lives of children from the arrival of Africans in the Colonial United States in 1619 until 2001 written mainly for young readers. The book is short with three main sections, one on the Colonial United States, one section on the post-American Revolution United States until 1900, and a section on the 20th Century United States. The book contains many sections that include the childhood memories of individual Black Americans from the West African-born Venture Smith (who was born around 1729 and who died in 1805) to Sydney Simone George of Washington D.C. (who was born in 1995). Many of the memories are some of the most memorable parts of the book. The layout of the memories and illustrations in the book are quite good. The book contains many photographs and illustrations. The book contains an index, notes, selected bibliography, suggested reading, illustrated credits, and an index. The book may be a little old a lot has happened in American history and African American history. I am not a Black American but Tell All the Children Our Story by Tonya Bolden seems to be a well-done introduction if a little older introduction to African American history focused on children.

[Monique · Rating 5 out of 5]

Outstanding explanation of our history...Black history. Written with detail and honesty in a voice that young people can understand. The pictures offer visual representation of the events as they transpired from abduction from Africa to the late 1990's. Wonderful conversation starter for adults to have with youth.

[Melissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fantastic history of Black childhood in America written for upper elementary students. It incorporates art, first hand accounts, historical documents, interviews, illustrations, and photography from the 17th century through the 20th century. Set up like a scrapbook the author tells the hardship and the beauty of being a Black child in America. Highly recommend!

[Chase Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was powerful. Its message is much needed in our current day. I loved how the personal testimonies and accounts were interwoven throughout the narrative, making the history feel personal and real.

The pacing was excellent, keeping me engaged from start to finish. I’ll definitely be rereading this in the future and recommending it to others.

[Delaney States · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a multicultural non fiction book and is about the terrible things African Americans went through in our history. I think this book would be a great read for a social studies lesson to introduce African American history in this country.

[Jennifer Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

I listened to the audible. Loved it because we got multiple lessons in black history and a lot that was from a first hand perspective. Worth the read.

[Amy Lyke · Rating 5 out of 5]

I listened to the audio. I will definitely read the book again. It shared great information.

[Natasha · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book said a lot I know of but in letters and journals of what people really felt.

[Sequella Coleman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Words, pictures, cartoons, artwork etc … a variety of ways to tell the stories of black history at a middle grade plus level. Well done can be read as a novel or used as a reference document.

[Danielle Vaughan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very enlightening and child friendly. Story that needs to be taught to our kids

[Dani Heller · Rating 3 out of 5]

In Tonya Bolden's remarkable book, Tell All the Children Our Story it is as if you are looking through a scrapbook of pictures and text all portraying the lives of African Americans in the early America. I loved how the cook included clippings from diaries, posters, photographs and paintings. The book consists of three parts; Out of Africa, Longing for the Jubilee and Lift Every Voice and Sing.The way the book is organized is very clear and chronological; leading all the way up to the 1990's.
Bolden simplifies things and compares them to something a reader today might understand, such as comparing owning many slaves to owning expensive cars today. The short excerpts early in the book written by slaves talking of their experiences are really interesting and make the book flow easier as you go from story to story.
This book is not only filled with stories, but with facts and numbers that can put things from our history into prospective for young readers. I would recommend this book for a 5th grader or middle school students. It is rich with content and covers a long period of time. It is very informational and I enjoyed reading this for y informational book choice.

[Sherita · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tell all the children our story, was a great book it was very informative and told the stories of African Americans in the United States before segregation took place. This book I think would be great for a teacher to incorporate in a lesson about American's history and Arifcan American's history. The book covers topics such as slaves leaving Africa and being brought to the U.S to be sold, it cover the history of the black national anthem Lift Every voice and sing, and the typical life of being black in the United States. The format and illstration of this book remiminded me of a scrapbook. There was some real life images, a few professional paintings images, and even some cartoon like illustrations. In the book there was also some letters written from slaves to other family memebers. On several of the pages there was illustrations of sheets of paper that has been cut into different shapes, and on each one of these papers told someone story. Great book, but not a typical book that I would read aloud.

[Mandy Scheuren]

This book gives us all a great understanding of how those who were young and black grew up in America. It gives great detail on a vast amount of information, summing it up in 117 pages. This would be a significant way to engage children’s attention teaching them how these young black children suffered from slavery, the way they were schooled, the places they lived in and much more. Children may gain more respect of what they have today by comparing to how little they had back then. Each page contains a picture, whether it is art or a real photo. There are many great photos however a few that caught my attention was the picture of the reconstructed cabin in the slave quarters at Carter’s Grove plantation and a photo of two young unidentified boy slaves with their sad droopy eyes. This book contains a table of contents, which is easy for children to comprehend in a more organized manner.

[Chanice · Rating 5 out of 5]

I recently started reading more books about African American culture and the civil rights movement so this is definitely one of my favorites. I absolutely loved this book! It opened my eyes and made me realize how important it is to cherish my African American culture. This book was also very informative. It started off by talking about slavery then the civil rights movement and segregation. I learned so much from this book and I'm so glad I picked it up from the library. Anyone that reads this book WILL learn something!

[Sandra Strange · Rating 4 out of 5]

The history of African American children and young adults in America from the first indentured servants and the horrific Middle Passage to modern teens with their opportunities and diversities. The best part of the book is the first person accounts from letters, diaries and interviews highlighted throughout the book. Positive. Covers same territory as Lester’s To Be a Slave. The difference is that this book is mostly historical narrative.

[Cariegreer · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book covers a history of black men and women in America during colonial America through the Revolutionary War, as well as the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. These come from interviews, essays, and autobiographies. The book includes poetry, portraits, and photographs to support the wealth of information. The stories are so interesting. Great book and learning tool!

[Mariah · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book has great information about many different African Americans. It is a little lengthy and is set up like a short picture book. There are pictures and facts in the book that many students should know. This book would be helpful to students in middle school doing a report on African Americans.

[Taylor Pettie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is on the memories and mementos of being young and black in America. It records the time period from the Revolution to the civil war. It is an informative read that would be great for any Social Studies lesson.

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

A powerful and gripping presentation of memories and notes from across time that bring to life the past.