In this post, we feature two award-winning creators: author Ray Anthony Shepard, whose previous, highly acclaimed titles include Runaway, a Jane Addams Peace Association Honor Book, and illustrator R. Gregory Christie, whose many honors include a 2023 nomination for the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award for his body of work. You can hear them speak about their new title, A Long Time Coming: A Lyrical Biography of Race in America from Ona Judge to Barack Obama, and try their “invitation to imagine” activities. You’ll also find other resources to explore. Thanks for joining us, and let us know what you think in the comments below!
A Long Time Coming: A Lyrical Biography of Race in America from Ona Judge to Barack Obama
- Written by Ray Anthony Shepard and illustrated by R. Gregory Christie
- Published by Calkins Creek, an imprint of Astra Publishing House
- Release date: August 8, 2023
Full of daring escapes, deep emotion, and subtle lessons on how racism operates, this collective biography-in-verse spotlights six important Black Americans from different eras. From freedom-seeker Ona Judge, who fled her enslavement by America’s first president, to Barack Obama, the first Black president, each subject fights valiantly for justice for both themselves and for all Black Americans. A Long Time Coming is also a highly personal book; Shepard, whose maternal grandfather was enslaved, shows how the grand sweep of history has touched his life. His reflections reveal how much progress has been made against racism, even as he exhorts readers to continue the vast work that remains to be done. Award-winning illustrator R. Gregory Christie’s stark black-and-white artwork adds essential layers of meaning to this powerful volume.
From A Long Time Coming: A Lyrical Biography of Race in America from Ona Judge to Barack Obama, written by written by Ray Anthony Shepard and illustrated by R. Gregory Christie.
“As a fifth-grader at Bancroft School, / I cringed during slavery’s history time / as one of the few Black faces / on Nebraska’s Great White Plains.”
Click here to view a longer preview of A Long Time Coming.
A Long Time Coming: A Lyrical Biography of Race in America from Ona Judge to Barack Obama
Listen to Ray Anthony Shepard and R. Gregory Christie talking with TeachingBooks about creating A Long Time Coming: A Lyrical Biography of Race in America from Ona Judge to Barack Obama. You can click the player below or experience the recording on TeachingBooks, where you can read along as you listen, and also translate the text to another language.
- Listen to author Ray Anthony Shepard pronounce his name.
- Listen to illustrator R. Gregory Christie pronounce his name.
- Watch a video book trailer of A Long Time Coming.
- Sample an e-book of A Long Time Coming on Overdrive.com.
- Explore TeachingBooks’ collection of activities and resources for A Long Time Coming.
Invitation to Imagine
TeachingBooks asks each author or illustrator on our Virtual Book Tour to share a writing prompt, a drawing exercise, or just an interesting question to spark curiosity and creativity. Enjoy the following activities contributed by Ray Anthony Shepard and R. Gregory Christie.
Imagination Activity with Ray Anthony Shepard
Writing in verse is a storytelling method that:
- uses short lines to evoke images and sounds
- drives home the meaning of a line by the final word of each line
- reveals something about the character or moves the story’s plot in each stanza
- uses strong verbs, not adverbs, and as few conjunctions, prepositions, or adjectives as possible.
With these characteristics in mind, try to write your own story poem.
Imagination Activity with R. Gregory Christie
One exercise that I love to do is to draw a rectangle, write a simple sentence below it, and then illustrate that sentence inside the rectangle. I believe that most people are looking at things surrounded by rectangles (LCD screens, windows, and doorways), and our brains are simply wired to see something within that rectangle. So, consider your framed shape with words underneath it as a window—one that has a foreground, a middle ground, and a background. Play with sizes and emotions based upon the sentence structure. For example, if the scared fox jumped quickly over the fence, decide if the fence is larger than the fox or vice versa. Use expressions to create emotion. Practice over and over until you have enough tools to illustrate the sentence so well that a viewer wouldn’t even have to read the words to understand the concept.
Finish This Sentence . . . with Ray Anthony Shepard and R. Gregory Christie
As part of our Virtual Book Tour, TeachingBooks asks authors and illustrators to complete short sentence prompts. Enjoy Ray Anthony Shepard’s and R. Gregory Christie’s responses.
“My favorite books as a child were…”
My favorite titles as a child were The Snowy Day, Conan the Barbarian, How to Make Paper Airplanes, and Mad magazine. —R. Gregory Christie
“A favorite question from a young readers is…”
A favorite question from a young reader is, “If your life were a book, what would be the title?”—R. Gregory Christie
“I hope that this book may encourage readers to think about…”
I hope this book encourages readers to think about the role of bravery and courage in American history. Try picking a historical person you admire and complete this sentence: “X challenged and changed X, and by doing so made our country a fairer place.”—Ray Anthony Shepard
I hope this book encourages readers to have empathy, meaning I hope they try to see the world through another group’s eyes. —R. Gregory Christie
Thank you!
To wrap up this Virtual Book Tour, we thank Ray Anthony Shepard for signing a book for all of us.
More Connections to Ray Anthony Shepard, R. Gregory Christie, and A Long Time Coming: A Lyrical Biography of Race in America from Ona Judge to Barack Obama
- Discover books like A Long Time Coming: A Lyrical Biography of Race in America from Ona Judge to Barack Obama on TeachingBooks.
- Astra’s page about A Long Time Coming: A Lyrical Biography of Race in America from Ona Judge to Barack Obama, written by Ray Anthony Shepard and illustrated by R. Gregory Christie.
- Buy A Long Time Coming: A Lyrical Biography of Race in America from Ona Judge to Barack Obama, written by written by Ray Anthony Shepard and illustrated by R. Gregory Christie.
All text and images are courtesy of Ray Anthony Shepard, R. Gregory Christie, and Astra Publishing House and may not be used without expressed written consent.
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