The Night Before Freedom: A Juneteenth Story

K-Gr 5–In this story of a family’s annual Juneteenth celebration, the matriarch recounts how her grandmother, Mom Bess, told the story of how she (at six years old) and her parents welcomed freedom on the first Juneteenth in 1865. David’s family is celebrating Juneteenth in Galveston, TX, with their relatives. The festivities, which include parades, speeches, food, and music, honor the day when enslaved people in Galveston finally learned of their freedom in 1865, two years after President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation. An ode to Clement C. Moore’s “The Night Before Christmas,” this story is written in the same meter as the well-known poem. Armand’s use of rhyme and rhythm throughout the book is reminiscent of nursery rhymes, in a way that makes the history digestible for young readers. The vibrant artwork depicts David’s ancestors and people in their community marching, dancing, praising, and singing as word of their newfound freedom spread. Colors are bright, warm, lively, flowy, soft, and blended. The faces have definition, the pages have texture, and the people seem to really move in each illustration.