The cover and illustrations for my debut picture book are finished, and they are absolutely beautiful!! I can’t wait to share the complete story about this historical place. THEY BUILT ME FOR FREEDOM: The Story of Juneteenth and Houston’s Emancipation Park, releases through HarperCollins, Balzer+Bray in May 2024 and is available for preorder on Amazon.
A moving picture book about the history of Emancipation Park in Houston, Texas—and the origins of Juneteenth.
When people visit me, they are free—to run, play, gather, and rejoice.
They built me to remember.
On June 19, 1865, the 250,000 enslaved people of Texas learned they were free, ending slavery in the United States. This day was soon to be memorialized with the dedication of a park in Houston. The park was called Emancipation Park, and the day it honored would come to be known as Juneteenth.
In the voice and memory of the park itself—its fields and pools, its protests and cookouts, and, most of all, its people—the 150-year story of Emancipation Park is brought to life. Through lyrical text and vibrant artwork, Tonya Duncan Ellis and Jenin Mohammed have crafted an ode to the struggle, triumph, courage, and joy of Black America—and the promise of a people to remember.
Tonya Duncan Ellis
Tonya Duncan Ellis is author THEY BUILT ME FOR FREEDOM: The Story of Juneteenth and Houston’s Emancipation Park and the bestselling, award-winning, Sophie Washington chapter book series and is a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI), the Authors Guild, Black Creators in KidLit and the Brown Bookshelf’s Highlights Foundation Sponsored Amplify Black Stories storyteller cohort.
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