This is a book is a modern perspective about what standing in the Need of Prayer looks like for African Americans. Each page is filled with a "need of prayer" that African Americans were begging for. This book captures Black History in a very appropriate way. I think this book would be great for a history lesson in 3-4th grade. I think there is a lot of heavy understanding, but I do also think this could be an easy read for primary students, just depends if you have the historical information in the classroom.

From The Horn: "This is a moving walk through African American history, via Weatherford’s expansion of the lyrics of a well-known Negro spiritual and Morrison’s powerful, imagistic art."

Weatherford infuses the lyrics of a traditional spiritual with pivotal events in African American history.

In four-line stanzas, references to the unseen narrator (“It’s me, it’s me, O Lord”), the ancestors, and present-day children alternate with the line “Standing in the need of prayer.” From “families enslaved and sold apart,” “a band of rebels,” and “freedmen seeking kin at Emancipation” to Black students integrating all-White schools, athletes breaking records, and choirs singing of justice and freedom, African Americans from across the eras and generations are humbled before God as they face mighty obstacles with brave resistance and endurance. Readers don’t need to know the song to enjoy this book; the repeated lines have the power of an incantation, inducing a meditation on all that Black people have survived and how they have thrived. Morrison’s elegant, emotional, painterly illustrations highlight the beauty, dignity, and grace of the people throughout difficult and degrading circumstances. Rich earth tones, texture, and light invite the eye to linger on the varied, portrait-style compositions. Not just for faithful homes, this is a book that can spark conversations about Black history from a strengths-based lens, with culture and coping as the focus. Brief notes discuss the figures and topics referenced in the main text, and an author’s note explains the importance of spirituals to the culture and to Weatherford personally. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

Gorgeous and enlightening, nourishing both mind and soul. (online resources) (Historical picture book. 4-10)

-Kirkus Review

Powerful modernization of the original spiritual, written in verse. At the end of the book there is a synopsis of the various historical events that are mentioned in the book. Recommended for upper elementary school students, perhaps as young as 2nd grade if students are mature, but more applicable for 3rd through 5th when discussions can be had about the material. ( )

A modern take on Standing in the Need of Prayer....with great illustrations by Frank Morrison. It captures Black History well and the fact that it uses an old spiritual (often sung in Southern churches) as its origin....it's good. ( )