Starred Review, Publishers Weekly, August 8, 2011:
"Forceful and iconic, the Dillons’ (The Secret River) woodcut-style paintings use gentle colors and strong lines to telegraph scary sequences, but do not dwell on them...The willingness to turn the dark history of the past into literature takes not just talent but courage. McKissack has both."

Starred Review, School Library Journal, August 2011:
"The pictures demonstrate the miracle of superb book illustration: how something that lies flat on the page can convey such depth, texture, and feeling. This sad but powerful tale will not be easily accessible to many kids, but here’s hoping that there are a lot of patient and appreciative adults (teachers, parents, librarians) to introduce them to it."

Starred Review, Booklist, September 1, 2011:
"The dramatic, thickly outlined acrylic-andwatercolor illustrations extend the story’s magical realism and intensify the anguish and grief in the words. Both words and images come together in a conclusion that brings hope, with the promise of freedom"

Starred Review, Kirkus Reviews, September 1, 2011:
"Sounds of drums and song for each element (Fire is “Kiki Karum Kiki Karum Kiki Karum,” while Water is “Shum Da Da We Da Shum Da Da We Da,” for instance) emphasize the storyteller’s voice in the narrative, inviting listeners to participate and engage. Full-page and border paintings in acrylic and watercolor use strong black lines, almost like woodcut engravings, in deep browns, earth colors and subtle jewel tones against creamy backgrounds...A totally absorbing poetic celebration of loss and redemption."

Starred Review, The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, November 1, 2011:
“McKissak gives her legend-making genuine momentum as well as scope….Stories of the middle passage rarely focus on the pain of those left behind, and this is a creative yet poignant treatment of that grief.”

Gr 4–7—In a tribute to those who were stolen from homes in Africa to become slaves in the New World, McKissack weaves a tale (Schwartz & Wade, 2011) about a loving father and the young son who is taken from him. Dinga, a seventh-generation Mende blacksmith, is a talented and respected man. After his wife dies in childbirth, Dinga defies tradition, raising his son Musafa with the help of the Mother Elements—Earth, Fire, Water, and Wind. Musafa grows strong and wise. He becomes Dinga's apprentice, creating pretty, but useless objects. One day, while gathering wood, Musafa is captured. Dinga searches in vain for his son, then appeals to the Elements for help. They take turns following Musafa, reporting to Dinga of his son's passage, his courage, and finally, of his new life as a blacksmith in South Carolina. Dinga rejoices that Musafa is alive and that his talent for creating lovely objects could earn his freedom. Lizan Mitchell performs the passages of McKissack's 2012 Coretta Scott King Honor book melodiously and with fervor. The author's note was not recorded. Leo and Diane Dillon's acrylic and watercolor illustrations resemble woodcuts, superimposing bold figures on fainter ones, creating impressions of lingering spirits, evil, and sadness. Combining history, folk tales, and legend into a moving remembrance of families torn apart, this haunting story with its rich illustrations is strengthened by this wonderful audio interpretation.—MaryAnn Karre, West Middle School, Binghamton, New York

Narrator Lizan Mitchell brings a graceful rhythm and lyrical lilt to this story poem about an African father, Dinga, a blacksmith, and his beloved son, Musafa. When Musafa is taken by slave traders, each of the Mother Elements who have helped to raise Musafa—Earth, Fire, Water, and Wind—attempts to locate him and offer some solace for Dinga’s misery. Mitchell’s voice is complex—rich yet gentle. She sounds playful and animated as young Musafa and the Mother Elements share time together. In the poignant moments, she varies her pacing and inflection, especially when the Mother Elements tell what they saw when they searched for their “beloved son.” Mitchell’s trailing-off phrases and long silences underscore the theme of the love and loss that families endure. A.R. © AudioFile 2013, Portland, Maine

A searing cycle of poems describes a father's grief after his son is taken from their home in Mali and enslaved in America.

McKissack's tale of a father's grief, old ways carried to the new world and a circle broken and reforged to span the ocean itself echoes ancient storytelling traditions. An initial poem, "The Griot's Prelude," describes "men with the blue of the sky in their eyes" coming deep into the forests to take slaves. A Mende blacksmith in 18th-century, Mali raises his child himself when the infant's mother dies in childbirth. Dinga enlists the Mother Elements of Earth, Fire, Water and Wind as the elders who help to raise Musafa. Sounds of drums and song for each element (Fire is"Kiki Karum Kiki Karum Kiki Karum," while Water is "Shum Da Da We Da Shum Da Da We Da," for instance) emphasize the storyteller's voice in the narrative, inviting listeners to participate and engage. Full-page and border paintings in acrylic and watercolor use strong black lines, almost like woodcut engravings, in deep browns, earth colors and subtle jewel tones against creamy backgrounds. The boy learns to make beautiful objects of metal but is taken by slave traders, and it is years before Dinga learns from the Wind that his son, now Moses, has become a gifted apprentice blacksmith in Charleston, S.C., soon to be freed by the smithy owner.

A totally absorbing poetic celebration of loss and redemption. (author's note)(Picture book/poetry. 7-12)