Jonathan Green – illustratör

Lowcountry storyteller Delores B. Nevils and acclaimed artist Jonathan Green collaborate to share the story of Amadeus, a loud and proud leghorn rooster who comes to live with a widow lady in the Corners community of St. Helena Island on the South Carolina coast. The widow lady''s dogs—Kane and Able—and cats—Mae Liza, Scooter, and Pumpkin—are unhappy with the arrival of this new resident in their yard. Amadeus makes himself at home and becomes the pride of the neighborhood. When the widow lady comes to welcome Amadeus and his constant cock-a-doodle-dooing, a rivalry develops between the rooster and the original residents of the yard, with unexpected results. The cautionary story of Amadeus teaches a valuable lesson for readers of all ages about what can be lost without cooperation and friendship. As the characters learn from the consequences of their actions, if you do not take care of everyone and everything around you, then you just might end up with nothing.

The true story of an enslaved African American man who escaped to freedom and became a military and political leader

Robert Smalls, born a slave in 1839 in Beaufort, South Carolina, gained fame as an African American hero of the American Civil War. The Freedom Ship of Robert Smalls tells the inspirational story of Small''s life as a slave, his boyhood dream of freedom, and his bold and daring plan as a young man to commandeer a Confederate gunboat from Charleston Harbor and escape with fifteen fellow slaves and family members. Smalls joined the Union Navy and rose to the rank of captain and became the first African American to command a U.S. service ship. After the war Smalls returned to Beaufort, bought the home of his former master, and began a long career in state and national politics.

This new edition of The Freedom Ship of Robert Smalls, originally published in 1971, features Louise Meriwether''s original narrative, now illustrated by the colorful paintings of renowned Southern artist Jonathan Green.

Paintings, magisterial and universal, that capture the essence of a vibrant African American community

In his art Jonathan Green paints the world of his childhood and an ode to a people imbued with a profound respect for the dignity and value of others—the Gullah people of the South Carolina barrier islands. His canvases, beloved for their sense of jubilation and rediscovery, evoke the meaning of community in Gullah society and display a reverence for the rich visual, oral, and spiritual traditions of its culture. His art also reveals a keen awareness of the interpersonal, social, and natural environments in which we live.

The 180 images assembled in this collection showcase the meaning, purpose, and beauty that Green finds in the small but critical tasks of life. His work elevates the everyday—preparing morning meals, doing the wash, accomplishing farming chores, finishing a day''s work, relaxing in the evening—and celebrates the social and religious—community dances, baptisms, weddings, funerals. Green allows his audience the space and silence to observe people unobtrusively as they pursue life''s mission of labor, love, and belonging and as they work in harmony with nature''s mysterious, ever changing fabric.

While Green''s paintings speak specifically to his own upbringing, they transcend racial, cultural, and ethnic boundaries, thus allowing individuals of all backgrounds to recall fond memories and to reflect on the place that purpose and dignity hold in their lives.

In addition to a foreword by Pat Conroy, essays by Bettye J. (Mbitha) Parker Smith, Lynn Robertson, and Ronne Hartfield complement Green''s images. They tell of the vitality of the Gullah community, the progression of Green''s career, and the authenticity of his work.