Synopses & Reviews
I have heard of a land
Where the imagination has no fences
Where what is dreamed one night
Is accomplished the next day
In the late 1880s, signs went up all around America - land was free in the Oklahoma territory. And it was free to everyone: Whites, Blacks, men and women alike. All one needed to stake a claim was hope and courage, strength and perseverance. Thousands of pioneers, many of them African-Americans newly freed from slavery, headed west to carve out a new life in the Oklahoma soil.
Drawing upon her own family history, National Book Award winner Joyce Carol Thomas has crafted an unforgettable anthem to these brave and determned people from America's past. Richly illustrated by Coretta Scott King Award honoree Floyd Cooper, I Have Heard of a Land is a glorious tribute to the Afrian-American pioneer spirit.
00-01 Sequoyah Children's Book Award Masterlist
Synopsis
This lyrical tribute to the pioneer spirit* from an acclaimed author-artist team is a powerful tribute to the African-American pioneers who participated in the Oklahoma land runs** and was recognized as a Coretta Scott King Honor Book.
In the late 1880s, signs went up all around America: land was free in the Oklahoma territory. And it was free to everyone: Whites, Blacks, men and women alike. All one needed to stake a claim was hope and courage, strength and perseverance. Thousands of pioneers, many of them African-Americans newly freed from being enslaved, headed west to carve out a new life in the Oklahoma soil.
Drawing on her own family history, National Book Award winner Joyce Carol Thomas has crafted an unforgettable anthem to these brave and determned people. Richly illustrated by Coretta Scott King Award honoree Floyd Cooper, I Have Heard of a Land is a glorious tribute to the Afrian-American pioneer spirit.
Thomas and Cooper both have their roots in Oklahoma, where this book is set. Thomas' wonderful author's note tells the story of her great-grandparents, who ran for land in the Oklahoma Territory, and illuminates the experience of African Americans 'surviving and thriving' in a place where freedom was more than a word.*
This picture book is perfect for shared family history projects at home or in the classroom, as well as units on pioneers, life in post-Civil War America, Oklahoma history, and lesser-known aspects of the expansion west in the United States.
I have heard of a land / Where the imagination has no fences...
*Booklist starred review; **School Library Journal
About the Author
Joyce Carol Thomas is an internationally renowned poet, novelist, and playwright. She received the National Book Award for her first novel for children,
Marked by Fire, and a Coretta Scott King Honor for her first picture book,
Brown Honey in Broomwheat Tea. She also received a Coretta Scott King Honor, an International Reading Association Teachers Choice Award and an American Library Association Notable Award for her epic poem,
I Have Heard of a Land.
In addition to these celebrated titles, Joyce Carol Thomas has written other books of poetry, such as A Mothers Heart, A Daughters Love: Poems for Us to Share; Crowning Glory; and Gingerbread Days. She has also written collections of short stories, including A Gathering of Flowers: Stories About Being Young in America; The Bowlegged Rooster: And Other Tales That Signify; and Whats the Hurry, Fox? And Other Animal Stories, which is an adaptation of short stories collected by Zora Neale Hurston.
Joyce Carol Thomas has also written two board books, Cherish Me and You Are My Perfect Baby, and the novels Bright Shadow and When the Nightingale Sings.
A native of Ponca City, Oklahoma, Joyce Carol Thomas now lives in Berkeley, California.