Dark Was the Night

Blind Willie Johnson's Journey to the Stars

Nancy Paulsen Books (Penguin Random House)

(pub. 8.25.2020) 

32 pages 

A True Tale with

A Cherry On Top   

A uthor: Gary Golio
       and illustrator:  E.B. Lewis

 
C haracter:  Willie Johnson

O verview:

       

    "Willie Johnson loved to sing and play guitar. He went blind when he was young, but that didn't stop him from traveling all over Texas to perform on street corners and in small  churches. The unique way he  played slide guitar - with a penknife - gave  the instrument a voice of its own, and paired with his own raspy singing, he created an unforgettable sound...

     This powerful story introduces young readers to an influential musician who helped people find light and hope in their lives. Along with pieces by Bach, Beethoven, and the sound of a human heart, Willie Johnson's evocative 'Dark Was the Night' was chosen to represent humanity on the historic Golden Record, carried into space by the Voyager I."

T antalizing taste: 

     "In a dark quiet room, your voice poured into a microphone, slid down some wires, and scratched itself onto a wax disc. The record caught you breathing, singing, and moving your knife along those steel strings.

     It was the sound of one human being reaching out to all the others, telling them not to be afraid of the dark.

     After all, if a blind man could see the light ..."

And something more:  The back matter of Dark Was the Night discusses the background of The Golden Record time capsule sent out into space in 1977: "On August 25, 2012, Voyager I  - traveling through space at 38,000 miles per hour - became the first human-made object to leave our  solar system and journey so far from Earth.  On it is the song of a blind man, someone who knew both light and darkness, bearing a message of hope to the stars themselves."