Celebrate We Gullah Geechee
A Kids' Look at the Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor
Yvette R Murray author Tonya Engel illustrator
Format:Hardback
Publisher:Teacher Created Materials, Inc
Published:17th Feb '26
Should be back in stock very soon
Celebrate We Gullah Geechee invites the reader along on a dynamic exploration of Gullah culture.
With rhythm and repetition to engage children, five narrators take turns highlighting what they notice in their world, each focusing on one of the five senses. We are there with them: A girl sees a “haint blue door at Grandma’s house / Rocking chairs waiting on the porch.” On special days, we hear the marching band play—ba-da-dum-bum. Our hands explore the prickly bark of Palmetto tree trunks. Through these sensory experiences, readers will honor and learn about the culture and traditions of coastal North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida.
With love that shines through every line, Celebrate We Gullah Geechee:- Uplifts Gullah Geechee history and contemporary culture
- Spotlights the importance of family, community, and place
- Engages children with rhythmic writing and lots of onomatopoeia
- Includes a section for adults with additional background information
Written by award-winning poet Yvette R. Murray, this book invites children to explore their own worlds— whether near or far from the Gullah Geechee Heritage Corridor—through sense and celebration.
"This picture book honors the history and the present of the Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor . . . the acrylic and oil illustrations capture the vibrant colors and energy of a thriving culture and people—and might just whet your appetite, too." * Foreword Reviews *
"Five children invite readers on a series of distinct journeys guided by their experiences growing up in the Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor. Colorful and flavorful snapshots of an unmistakable heritage." * Kirkus Reviews *
"In Celebrate We Gullah Geechee, author Yvette R. Murray deftly weaves the sights, sounds, and sayings of the people who reside along the Gullah Geechee Corridor. Her ability to voice the beauty and uniqueness of place and people based on her own lived experience as a member of this vibrant strand of the African Diaspora brings an unparalleled intensity that sings throughout the book. Nestled in a vibrant landscape illustrated by Tonya Engel, the words, food, smells, and deep familiarity with nature come alive as children chant, from page to page, their love of the environment that has cloistered and nurtured, a land that sows Africa into the soil to preserve its seed. Murray's book is a reaching out and a pulling in, indeed, it is an invitation to celebrate the wonder of Gullah Geechee through the eyes of the purest observers among us—the children!"
-- Regina YC Garcia, author of Whispers from the Multiverse and The Firetalker's Daughter"There was a time when children of the Gullah Geechee culture were mocked and ridiculed as 'backward' and 'countrified,' and made to feel ashamed of their heritage by mainstream?society. That attitude has changed in recent times, and many people today understand Gullah Geechee as a unique blend of African and American traditions. Yvette M. Murray's text and Tonya Engel's illustrations assist in making Celebrate We Gullah Geechee a part of this understanding." -- Damon L. Fordham, MA, author and adjunct professor of history at the Citadel in Charleston, South Carolina
ISBN: 9798330905065
Dimensions: 273mm x 210mm x 9mm
Weight: 454g
44 pages