The Day Madear Voted

Gr 1-5–Just in time for the upcoming 2024 presidential election, Hudson and Tate combine their formidable talents to bring to young readers the historical context of the hard-won rights of Black people to vote. Tate’s sepia-toned illustrations identify scenes of voting in 1969 as “longer-ago” history as the young male narrator recalls his mother’s first time voting in the South after a lifetime of Jim Crow deprivations in Louisiana. The palette becomes enlivened by brighter primary colors as history moves through the 2008 election and into the present day; these beautifully convey Madear’s feelings of joy and collective empowerment. Hudson, known for his prolific and dedicated lifetime of work ensuring that Black children can see themselves in books and that history is preserved and told in the most engaging ways possible for young readers, adds an author’s note summarizing the larger historical context of the narration. Keeping pace is Tate, who movingly shares in an illustrator’s note that details his familial connections to the story, making this picture book a useful one for older elementary students as well as those in middle school and high school working with picture books.