Heart and Soul: The Story of America and African Americans took me through history in America and as the author stated, it truly painted a picture and “the American story came alive to me.” The author and illustrator, Kadir Nelson, researched his information for the book from interviewing his family members who lived through these moments in history, listening to the stories they have to tell, and pictures that tell their own story. The book takes you from the very start of American history, the...

Kadir Nelson narrates the story of America and African Americans with perfectly melded word and illustration. I am so drawn to his beautifully rendered portraits of both the famous and the forgotten that it’s hard for me to turn the page. In the prologue, his slightly cheeky narrator tells the whole story—the good the bad and the very, very ugly. An essential introduction for 8-12 year olds.

Five stars for art, no doubt. Kadir Nelson is really a genius illustrator, particularly his portraits, which are captivating and have this epic quality. How can an illustration just seem important in and of itself? I don't know, but these illustrations do. They're powerful. Now on to the text: I love that Nelson took over 400 years of history and told the story in under 100 pages. To sit and read this book in one go feels like the entire history of this country is flashing before your eyes. The

Humans tend to be a highly visual species. When folks tell you not to judge a book by its cover, that's an optimistic sentiment rather than a rule. People like to judge by covers. Often we haven't time to inspect the contents of all the books we see, so the jackets bear the brunt of our inherent skepticism. With this in mind, Kadir Nelson has always had an edge on the competition. If the man wants to get you to pick up a book, he will get you to pick up a book. You often get a feeling that while...

Kadir Nelson. He's the best. I could look at his paintings all day. Nelson takes on the persona of an elderly African-American woman sharing stories of her family from the time of their arrival in America through the era of Martin Luther King Jr. to write this mesmerizing history of America and African-Americans. Riveting is the word I would use.

For my informational text I read the book “Heart and Soul: The Story of America and African Americans” by Kadir Nelson. This book is written through the perspective of an unnamed narrator. The book shows the injustices and struggles that African American’s faced throughout history. It travels from slavery, to Jim Crow laws, and through the civil rights movement. This book was a WOW book for me as it was an inspiring account of the injustices faced by African Americans in America. While being ins...

This was a short, succinct and very informative book on African American history. I listened to it as an audiobook and would recommend to adults and children.

Informational text- In this book, Kadir Nelson tells the story of African Americans' struggle for equality in American through captivating literary nonfiction text and beautiful oil paintings. Nelson was able to provide a succinct summary of 400 years of American history in less than 100 pages. Told through the perspective of a grandmotherly type figure, the book recounts important historical events for African Americans from the start of slavery to the election of Barach Obama. I learned so muc...

I was first drawn to Kadir Nelson's Heart and Soul: The Story of America and African Americans because of his artwork. After reading the text, I am at once impressed with not only the artwork, but his careful research and presentation of America's Story through the lens of an African American. You felt like you were sitting with someone's grandma as she told you the story, and you didn't fall asleep! This rich text can easily be a 5th grade read-aloud as it nearly covers our entire social studie...

Heart and Soul: The Story of America and African Americans is an informational text about men, women, and children who were living during the colonial times through the Civil Rights Movement. These people fought against discrimination and other adversities. The book is told through a one-hundred-year old African American female that emphasizes all of the hardships that were endured as these people mentioned worked to gain freedom and equal rights. This would be a great book to read in all classr...

I read this book, The Underground Railroad, and Homegoing in quick succession. Perfectly complimentary. This book will be a family treasure forever.

In addition to enjoying the amazing art of Kadir Nelson I learned some very interesting facts about our country's history.

Have you ever wanted to know your family history? Have you wondered whether your ancestors were a part of a big event in history that took place? Heart and Soul is a story about the author’s family history that stretched back all the way to when his great-grandfather came to the newly found and settled America to serve as a slave. In this powerful and touching story, the author leads us through key points in history that embody the African-American spirit and their strives to be free. He timelin...

It is a little hard to evaluate the text of this book independently from the images, just because the paintings are *so* arresting. I have to say, and maybe I'm the only one, but I was quite taken with the writing and voice as well. I think Nelson accomplished something that looks simple but actually must have been quite difficult, which is condensing really significant African-American historical events into just enough detail that they are understood from that culture's perspective. The famili...

The paintings are beautiful, and the writing carries you along. It's a solid book for the elementary years. Nelson covers the hard topics of race from the beginning of the country through the Civil Rights act of 1964. If I have any complaints, I wish there'd been one more chapter to touch on recent history - at least Obama's election, if not the ongoing issues. It's mentioned in passing in the epilogue but not by name.I'll be using selected chapters in my 2/3rd grade classroom

You can get swept up in the illustrations alone, but the text is just as beautifully written.

This book tells the story of the United States from colonial days through the election of President Obama, and how the various historical events affected and shaped African Americans. It is narrated by an African American woman who details her ancestors’ stories throughout time. As someone who has always had difficulty remembering historical events and when they occurred, I really liked that the book has a brief summary of each major time period to spark the reader’s interest, without going int

Wonderful, wonderful book. I must own it for my personal library. The art is exceptional and the synopsis of each snippet of history gives just enough info to whet the appetite of young minds regarding America and African American history.

This was a really excellent overview of American history through the lens of African Americans. It is brief but inclusive, covering all the major historical events, but with a focus specifically on how African Americans were affected by and responded to the events. I like how the story is told as if through a narrator, an older woman or grandmother, talking to a young person, perhaps a grandchild, and is given a sense of familiarity because she refers to the reader often as “chile” or “honey.” I...

Beautiful artwork and a compelling narrative, as told by a fictional (I think?) version of the author's grandmother. My son liked it more than just reading a history text.