Ann Grifalconi’s 2007 picture book Ain’t Nobody a Stranger to Me is a book of layered history. It is told as a family story, by a little girl talking about her “Gran’pa,” but a note at the end of the book indicates it was inspired by the life story of Orleans Finger, a story he shared with the Federal Writers’ Project, back in 1937.
Within the book, this is told almost as a fairy tale, starting with “A long, long time ago…” The girl’s grandfather says hi to everyone they pass, and the girl asks how he knows so many people. This leads the grandfather to tell the story of how he lived under slavery. There’s an intensely symbolic detail: while enslaved, he kept apple seeds in his pockets, so he could plant them on his own farm when he eventually becomes free.
He then tells the story of his family’s escape to freedom. Jerry Pickney’s illustrations don’t just show scenes from this odyssey, they present image after image that show these people’s character in scenarios that could be part of a community mural telling an origin story. The grandfather praises those who helped him–members of the Underground Railroad–and makes that part of his chosen world view. People helped him, and he helps others.
Late in the book–and in the story of the passage to freedom, Pickney gives a two-page spread of glorious pink: blossoms from the apple seeds the man carried, which now fill the world.
A lovely and approachable treatment of the road to freedom and the varieties of virtue involved.
