Beautiful Blackbird

Bryan, Ashley. 2003. Beautiful Blackbird. New York: Atheneum Books for Young Readers. ISBN: 978-0689847318

Plot Summary:

Ashley Bryan's Beautiful Blackbird is based on a folktale with origins in the Ila people of Zambia (Bryan 2003). In this story, the birds of Africa are many bright colors, but they are all one single color. There is no variation in their feathers. Ringdove, a grey bird, calls the birds to meet by the water and while the birds look at their reflections in the water, Ringdove asks the birds what bird is the most beautiful of them all, to which, the other birds reply, "Blackbird!" The birds begin to dance and sing and during the song, Ringdove takes Blackbird aside and asks Blackbird to color him black, to which Blackbird agrees, but only after telling Ringdove that "Color on the outside is not what's on the inside." By the end of the book, all the birds ask Blackbird to paint them with black paint.

Critical Analysis:

Ashley Bryan invokes the people of Africa through the use of rhythm, chants, and tribal dancing throughout the entirety of the story. He uses the background lore of Zambia to tell a story with a message that is important for all children to hear and understand: Beauty is on the inside and be proud of who and what you are. No matter what ethnicity children are, this lesson is paramount for children to learn and embrace, especially in our society that puts such value on outward appearance. Even though the birds do change their appearance by adding color to their feathers, they are still what they once were. Children need to understand that you can change your appearance, you can alter the outside, but you will always be who you are on the inside and nothing can change that, so embrace it and be proud of who you (or what) you are.

The illustrations in the book are very different from other illustrations I have seen in children's literature. The pictures are not drawings. Instead, they are paper cut outs put together to form intricate colleges that work together to create incredibly vivid landscapes. The double layout where the birds meet at the water use paper strips to create the water and a double amount of birds to create the birds' reflections. Even the type of illustration used reinforces the story's moral because the illustrations are so very different from those in other works of children literature.

Review Excerpts:

"Bryan's collages make up for it with their exhibition of colorful splendor and composition. Scenes of the rainbow of wings are outdone only by a lakeside view of their colors intricately "mirrored in the waters." And Bryan's lilting and magical language is infectious." Publishers Weekly

"The story line is simple and the rhythmic chants of the flock frequently interspersed throughout the text add drama and a rapper's cadence. The cut-paper silhouettes are colorful but static, effectuating a stylized formality. The endpapers include an image of the scissors used to create the collages and reinforce the physical process behind the art. This unusual and little-known pourquoi tale may supplement larger collections..." Carol Ann Wilson, Westfield Memorial Library, School Library Journal

Awards:
2004 Coretta Scott King Award for Illustration
2004 Notable Children's Books in the Language Arts, NCTE Children's Literature Assembly

Connections:
Beautiful Blackbird would benefit from being heard by being read aloud so that children get a sense of the rhythm of the words. Ashley Bryan has the book on audio so that a teacher or children's librarian could play the book for the children while showing them the book.

Cutting shapes out of paper and putting them together to make a design is fairly easy for children. Children could use this technique to illustration their own stories. Something that a teacher might do would be to have children think about the folktales of their family (tribe) and use cut outs from construction paper to make their own collages to tell their story. (I have done this activity before with high school juniors after reading Native American folktales. It is an activity that my teenage students really enjoy completing. I expect elementary school students would enjoy it just as much.)