Author/Illustrator: Margot Theis Raven/E. B. Lewis
Genre: Historical Fiction
Awards: Children's Africana Book Awards (2005)
Age Level: 4-8 years old
Summary: For this family, the tradition of sweetgrass basket weaving is an art that has been passed down through the generations. The young girl is listening to her grandmother tell the story of her grandfather while sitting on her lap. Her grandfather was taught how to weave the baskets as a young boy so taut that it could hold the rainfall. After being captured in the slave trade, he stills holds his memory of weaving baskets and is able to teach others the tradition from his African culture. History is told in Circle Unbroken and meaningful texts are shared about the ship bound slaves and how they worked to preserve their family craft. At then end of the story, the granddaughter ends up in a picture back on her grandmothers' lap. Illustrations in this powerful book are painted as the texts are spiraled through time.The characters faces are detailed with emotion and the colors are painted with soft warm strokes. Circle Unbroken traces the emotional connections of the Africans held captive of the past, back to craftsmen in America today.
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