00:00:00:07 – 00:00:19:04
Hannah Amuka
For the development of this exhibition, the museum’s interpretation team invited students and their caregivers to share their thoughts on illustrations from the book The Invisible Princess. Pick up the listening device to hear some of their observations, and follow along with the book nearby to see what they see.

00:00:24:06 – 00:00:29:20
Hannah Amuka
What characters and relationships do you see in these illustrations?

00:00:30:12 – 00:00:38:08
Briley Golden
It looks like two friends are dancing and they’re two different race.

00:00:38:16 – 00:00:48:07
Briley
It’s really unique that the girl that looks like she’s African American—the headpiece around her head.

00:00:48:07 – 00:00:55:10
Briley
It looks like a sun around her head, and I like her braids.

00:00:55:11 – 00:01:00:19
Briley
They look like they’re dancing together, and they look really happy together.

00:01:01:03 – 00:01:05:14
Shallyn Blanton
Is he good to them or is he bad to them? Is he helping them or hurting them?

00:01:05:14 – 00:01:07:06
Caleb Blanton-Johnson
Hurting them probably.

00:01:07:08 – 00:01:08:14
Shallyn
Really?

00:01:08:14 – 00:01:13:16
Caleb
Mm-hmm, because in this one right here, he’s probably taking the baby.

00:01:14:04 – 00:01:24:01
Shallyn
So he’s hurting them with a pleasant look on his face. He doesn’t look angry or mean. And it looks like the mom—when she comes here—

00:01:24:01 – 00:01:25:08
Shallyn
her hands are out.

00:01:25:08 – 00:01:29:02
Shallyn
Well, she’s reaching for the baby in this one, but there’s no one else but the two of them.

00:01:29:02 – 00:01:35:06
Shallyn
Do you see her hands? [Caleb]: Mm-hmm. [Shallyn]: What does it feel like?

00:01:35:08 – 00:01:36:11
Caleb
Despair.

00:01:36:13 – 00:01:38:05
Shallyn
Despair?

00:01:38:05 – 00:01:41:20
Shallyn
It looks like she may be asking for something.

00:01:41:20 – 00:01:43:04
Unknown
For the child back.

00:01:48:16 – 00:01:51:17
Hannah Amuka
What messages or symbols do you see?

00:01:52:02 – 00:01:56:20
Ebony Foreman-Broaddus
I feel like this is a halo. I feel like this shows she’s protected.

00:01:57:00 – 00:02:24:10
Caleb Blanton-Johnson
She might be chosen by something or someone. And to have that on or over her head at all times. Because, basically all the scenes we see her in, there’s always like a ring or halo, but in the scene where the dad is talking to them, or what I think is the dad, like the halo, like, clips kind of into the dad.

00:02:24:18 – 00:02:32:23
Christian Taylor
The halo thing for this one character because I think, like, to point out her importance in the story.

00:02:32:23 – 00:02:34:17
Christian
And then I think

00:02:34:17 – 00:02:35:14
Christian
these kind of

00:02:35:14 – 00:02:41:05
Christian
illustrations are to show kind of like the guy’s divine power, maybe.

00:02:41:06 – 00:02:43:04
Eden Broaddus
He symbolizes freedom.

00:02:43:04 – 00:02:55:05
Eden
The gold chain symbolizes, like, freedom. And it helps other people that want freedom. Like, talk to him and, like, ask for his help to be free.

00:03:00:07 – 00:03:02:15
Hannah Amuka
What is the mood of the images?

00:03:03:01 – 00:03:07:10
Briley Golden
I think the colors make all of the music very settled.

00:03:07:10 – 00:03:09:20
Briley
They look like all the pictures are very calm and relaxed.

00:03:13:09 – 00:03:17:17
Kyndalyn G. Anderson
The black is so scared and frightening.

00:03:17:17 – 00:03:19:04
Lekisha Anderson
It’s frightening.

00:03:19:09 – 00:03:28:08
Christina Taylor
The colors, they’re very vibrant and bold. But they’re also very dark and complex. And typically we associate dark colors with, like, negative emotions, and we associate bright colors with positive emotions.
So, it’s interesting to see both.

00:03:38:07 – 00:03:43:07
Christian
Usually darkness can be negative. But I think what she’s trying to say is black is beautiful.

00:03:43:22 – 00:03:45:07
Ebony Foreman-Broaddus
I feel hopeful.

00:03:45:09 – 00:03:47:08
Hannah Amuka
What makes you say hopeful?

00:03:47:10 – 00:03:57:06
Eden Broaddus
’Cause in pretty much all the images she’s like, she has this slightly, like, smile on her face, probably hoping she can get out of slavery.

00:03:57:09 – 00:04:26:04
Ebony
I don’t know why this is cloudy. It has this cloudiness to it, as if the boat is moving, like the wake from a boat. But they all have that dark undertone to them. This one has a little bit of light to it, which to me symbolizes hope. This one definitely symbolizes fear. It’s not a smile; it’s not a look of fear, but it’s almost in between, like she’s still afraid but at the same time she knows she’ll be okay.

00:04:30:12 – 00:04:34:10
Hannah Amuka
Do these illustrations remind you of familiar places?

00:04:35:11 – 00:04:42:08
Briley Rose Golden
This one, it looks like my grandma’s backyard and her garden.

00:04:42:08 – 00:04:50:01
Briley
She has a lot of different flowers. And she does have, like, a white fence.

00:04:50:20 – 00:04:59:00
Caleb Blanton-Johnson
The one with the flowers and the two girls kind of look like a flower field I know nearby my school.

00:04:59:10 – 00:05:13:11
Christian Taylor
At my grandparents’ old house in like the summertime or the spring, it used to have, like, it used to be full of, like, dandelions. And so, me and my friend, we would always go there, and we’d always, just like, run through the field.

00:05:13:11 – 00:05:22:01
Christian
And so that just kind of reminds me of that. But also probably, like, now I see, like, this kind of looks like a cotton field.

00:05:22:07 – 00:05:31:03
Dhakiyah Loggins
This reminds me of a field or back—or a garden full of flowers.