The illustrations in Let is Shine are so vibrant and beautiful.  Let me start by saying that I had no idea that these well loved spirituals originated from the African American slaves!  I found them to be even more special knowing they were created by a people who were so mistreated yet still so full of hope.  The author Ashley Bryan states that she made this book with “the most forceful illustrations that will capture the underlying meaning of the Spiritual.”

The first spiritual is “This Little Light of Mine.”  The illustrations accompanying this spritual include people dancing and each carrying their light.  I especially liked the image of Satan trying to blow out the candles.  He appears as a face within a dark wind.  I liked that the images include modern times, for example in the verse “Ev’ry where I go, I’m gonna let it shine.”  Bryan includes people in cars, planes, boats, bikes, and skates.

The second spritual is “Oh, When the Saints Go Marching in.”  It begins with a variety of people of all colors, man, woman, and child walking toward the sun.  Perhaps this image represents the son, Jesus Christ.  The verse “when the sun refuse to shine” is really interesting; we see dark houses and cars driving with their lights on.  An interesting swirling circle appears where the sun once shone.

In “He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands” the first image is of a town.  Upon closer inspection we see that it is a town of many different cultures: a tepee, an igloo, huts, pyramids, Greek columns and a skyscrapper.  I loved the images of God’s hands filled with flowers, trees, water, and volcanoes.

I never thought about these spirituals so deeply until I saw the accompanying images Bryan chose.  This picture book was beautiful and moving.