Papa's Free Day Party (free party pack with purchase*)

Written By Marilyn Nelson

Illustrated by Wayne Anthony Still

Johnnie wants to celebrate her Papa's birthday, but Papa doesn't know exactly when that special day is. Johnnie doesn't understand how that could be. Then she learns about Papa's childhood--how he built a new life in the all-Black town of Boley, Oklahoma. Inspired by her father's incredible story, Johnnie decides to throw Papa a different kind of party--one to recognize her Father’s Day of freedom. Based on a true story about the author's grandfather, Papa's Free Day Party is a powerful celebration of storytelling, strength, and the importance of family.

Hard cover, 32 Pages, Ages 4-8

REVIEWS

Horn Book 

Papa’s Free Day Party by Marilyn Nelson; illus. by Wayne Anthony Still Primary, Intermediate Just Us Books 32 pp. g 7/21 978-0-940975-72-9 $17.95 A birthday takes on special significance when a grandfather shares the story of his life with his grandchildren. It is 1924, and eight-year-old Johnnie cannot understand why Papa does not know his age. Papa explains that when he was born in the 1860s, the births of Black people were hardly documented, although he speculates: “I figure I must be near about 60, given that I was born a year or two after freedom come in

1865.” After Papa’s father escaped enslavement and completed service in the Civil War (fighting on “the right side of the war between slavery and justice”), he bought land and settled into farming. One night Klansmen burn their house, and Papa’s father tells him to run north. Days later, a white family with a son about his age welcome Papa into their home. The boys grow into young adulthood until Papa has to leave the area for his safety following a racial incident. The family sends him away with livestock and money to buy a farm. He finally makes a home outside the prosperous all-Black town of Boley, Oklahoma. Inspired by her grandfather’s story, Johnnie decides to celebrate Papa’s birthday on the day of Grant’s surrender to Lee at Appomattox, when “the war for freedom was won.” In honor of Papa, she renames the occasion his Free Day. Nelson’s (most recently Lubaya’s Quiet Roar, rev. 11/20) lengthy but engaging narrative, complemented by expressive and realistic art by Still (a descendent of the Underground Railroad conductor and historian William Still), is a celebratory tribute to the value of family history sustained by the power of intergenerational storytelling. Based on true stories about the author’s grandfather, as explained in an afterword. PAULETTA BROWN BRACY 

CHILDREN'S BOOK WATCH

Johnnie wants to celebrate her Papa's birthday, but Papa doesn't know exactly when that special day is. Johnnie doesn't understand how that could be. Then she learns about Papa's childhood -- how he built a new life in the all-Black town of Boley, Oklahoma. Inspired by her father's incredible story, Johnnie decides to throw Papa a different kind of party -- one to recognize her father's day of freedom.

 Based on a true story about the author Marilyn Nelson's own grandfather, "Papa's Free Day Party" is a powerful, informative and entertaining picture book celebration of storytelling, strength, and the importance of family that is especially and unreservedly recommended for family, elementary school, and community library African American history picture book collections for children ages 5-9.