A Story About Afiya
January 30th, 2020 by jules
with windswept leaves of October, falling.”
Today, I’ve got a peek at a book coming to shelves in April from Lantana Publishing — A Story about Afiya, originally a poem written for young people in 1991 by the late Coretta Scott King Award-winning Jamaican poet James Berry and now in picture book form with art from Brazilian illustrator Anna Cunha.
Afiya is a Swahili girl, and she has “fine black skin” and “big brown eyes that laugh.” She also has one dress, and it’s special. “She has a white summer frock she wears and washes every night,” we read, “that everyday picks on something to collect, strangely.” Yes, on her frock are imprinted the places she goes and the wonders of nature she sees, as if her dress records her very memories. The dress is marked by her encounters and experiences, all of them ones that bring her joy.
The mixed media images are dominated by rose and mustard hues, and Cunha keeps the compositions simple — the focus always on Afiya and her ever-changing dress. Berry’s writing is lyrical and evocative. Here’s a look at some spreads.
imprinted on her frock, all over.”
(Click to enlarge spread)
and there the clustered bunches are, imprinted on her frock.”
(Click to enlarge spread)
together, on her back and her front.”
(Click to enlarge spread)
in the whole stretch of sea imprinted on her dress.”
(Click to enlarge spread)
A STORY ABOUT AFIYA. Text © James Berry, 1991. Illustration © Anna Cunha, 2020. American edition published in 2020 by Lantana Publishing Ltd., UK. Illustrations reproduced by permission of the publisher.
Oh. Oh. Oh how lovely!