The People Could Fly: American Black Folktales (1985)

by Virginia Hamilton

Other authors: Leo Dillon (Illustrator)

Other authors: See the other authors section.

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1,259	32	15,424	(4.12)	15
Retold Afro-American folktales of animals, fantasy, the supernatural, and desire for freedom, born of the sorrow of the slaves, but passed on in hope.

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I really enjoyed reading this book. This story provided detail as to what slaves had to go through without being too gruesome for kids. The illustrations showed lots of emotions and the story represented a common folklore. (

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PaytonSiragusa | Sep 9, 2022 |

This Afro-American folktale tells of the supernatural, a desire for freedom and the sorrow of slaves. The illustrations are darker tones, they depict very detailed pictures for the reader. The reader is captivated by the sorrow of the people, and then the hope that they feel. (

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mcnamea | Jan 26, 2022 |

Mailbox, Intermediate, Feb/Mar 1994

HCC_Education_Dept | Aug 17, 2021 |

audio production of expertly curated folktales. The intermittent music between stories was not optimal for my drifting-off-to-sleep purposes, but the collection itself is solid, with explanatory notes of historical significance after each. Recommended. (

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reader1009 | Jul 3, 2021 |

https://jlc-web.uaa.alaska.edu/client/en_US/apl/search/detailnonmodal/ent:$002f$...

BeckyatAPL | Feb 11, 2021 |

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Author name	Role	Type of author	Work?	Status
Virginia Hamilton	—	primary author	all editions	calculated
Dillon, Leo	Illustrator	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Dillon, Diane	Illustrator	secondary author	some editions	confirmed

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Canonical title

The People Could Fly: American Black Folktales

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Epigraph

Dedication

For my father, Kenneth Hamilton, and for all who've told the tale

First words

They say the people could fly. Say that long ago in Africa, some of the people knew magic.

Quotations

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(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)

Disambiguation notice

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▾Book descriptions

Retold Afro-American folktales of animals, fantasy, the supernatural, and desire for freedom, born of the sorrow of the slaves, but passed on in hope.

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