Bridges Instead of Walls: The Story of Mavis Staples

Gr 3-5–Staples, with Weatherford, recounts biographical events from when she was a girl attending services at the Progressive Baptist Church and delighting in the church’s choir to when she and her family reached stardom through gospel music and soul. Icon Staples grew up in a deeply religious family, listening to the gospel and singing with a powerful “husky” alto voice that characterized her performances next to the Staple Singers. This picture book highlights segregated America, racial discrimination, and the importance of music for the Civil Rights Movement, as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. would note. The narrative is presented in rhyming lines, emphasizing the family’s humble beginnings faith convictions, Pops Staples as a patriarchal figure, and what it meant to be a part of a musical family touring the United States. The text is filled with vocabulary words in a descriptive, poetic rendition suited for mature readers who can understand the power of music in Black communities; there is a reference to a switch used for a whipping. The digital illustrations accentuate oversized human characters and infuse the background with musical figures and decorative white and rainbow waves to denote the presence of music throughout the book. The color palette comprises white and shades of blue, brown, and purple, transporting readers back in history as they accompany award-winning Staples on this biographical journey. The back matter contains a list of recommended listening, documentaries, and a time line of Staples’s musical achievements.