«Secret river» of Leonard Weisgard

«Secret River», illustrated by Leonard Weisgard, was first published in 1955, after the death of Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings. The story follows a girl named Calpurnia from a poor family, who, during the Great Depression, sets out with her puppy in search of a mysterious river to help feed her village. The river aids her, and she returns home with enough fish for everyone. When Weisgard was working on the book in the late 1940s, there were unspoken restrictions on depicting Black characters in American children’s literature. Although the text does not mention Calpurnia’s race, the artist imagined her as Black, and to avoid censorship, he painted on coffee-stained paper.

In 2009, a new edition of the book was published with illustrations by Leo and Diane Dillon.