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BLACK HISTORY MONTH READING LIST FOR KIDS 28 BLACK HISTORY BOOKS BY BLACK AUTHORS Brooklyn Children’s Museum (BCM) works to ensure that all children have access to cultural learning opportunities that build empathy, encourage creative thought and problem solving, and inspire global citizenship. We believe in the power of culture to help children and families find comfort, resilience and stimulation. We are releasing a series of booklists curated by The Conscious Kid National Children’s Social Justice Library, an organization that promotes multicultural literacy, anti-bias and empowerment through access to diverse children’s books. All books featured in this reading list support our commitment to cultural learning and will be available to read at BCM throughout Black History Month. Brooklyn Children’s Museum • brooklynkids.org • The Conscious Kid Library • theconsciouskid.org LET IT SHINE: STORIES OF BLACK WOMEN FREEDOM FIGHTERS Andrea Davis Pinkney, Illustrated by Stephen Alcorn Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a bus and sparked a boycott that changed America. Harriet Tubman helped more than three hundred slaves escape the South on the Underground Railroad. Shirley Chisholm became the first black woman elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. The lives these women led are part of an incredible story about courage in the face of oppression; about the challenges and triumphs of the battle for civil rights; and about speaking out for what you believe in—even when it feels like no one is listening. Andrea Davis Pinkney's moving text and Stephen Alcorn's glorious portraits celebrate the lives of ten bold women who lit the path to freedom for generations. Includes biographies of Sojournor Truth, Biddy Mason, Harriet Tubman, Ida B.Wells-Barnett, Mary McLeod Bethune, Ella Josephine Baker, Dorothy Irene Height, Rosa Parks, Fannie Lou Hamer, and Shirley Chisholm. Ages 6-9. HAND IN HAND: TEN BLACK MEN WHO CHANGED AMERICA Andrea Davis Pinkney, Illustrated by Brian Pinkney Hand in Hand presents the stories of ten men from different eras in American history, organized chronologically to provide a scope from slavery to the modern day. The stories are accessible, fully-drawn narratives offering the subjects' childhood influences, the time and place in which they lived, their accomplishments and motivations, and the legacies they left for future generations as links in the "freedom chain." This book will be the definitive family volume on the subject, punctuated with dynamic full color portraits and spot illustrations by two-time Caldecott Honor winner and multiple Coretta Scott King Book Award recipient Brian Pinkney. Backmatter includes a civil rights timeline, sources, and further reading. Ages 9-12. Brooklyn Children’s Museum • 145 Brooklyn Avenue, Brooklyn, NY • brooklynkids.org • (718) 735-4400 VOICE OF FREEDOM: FANNIE LOU HAMER, SPIRIT OF THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT Carole Boston Weatherford, Illustrated by Ekua Holmes Despite fierce prejudice and abuse, even being beaten to within an inch of her life, Fannie Lou Hamer was a champion of civil rights from the 1950s until her death in 1977. Integral to the Freedom Summer of 1964, Ms. Hamer gave a speech at the Democratic National Convention that, despite President Johnson’s interference, aired on national TV news and spurred the nation to support the Freedom Democrats. Featuring vibrant mixed-media art full of intricate detail, Voice of Freedom celebrates Fannie Lou Hamer’s life and legacy with a message of hope, determination, and strength. Ages 9-12. MOSES: WHEN HARRIET TUBMAN LED HER PEOPLE TO FREEDOM Carole Boston Weatherford, Illustrated by Kadir Nelson This poetic book is a resounding tribute to Tubman's strength, humility, and devotion. With proper reverence, Weatherford and Nelson do justice to the woman who, long ago, earned over and over the name Moses. Ages 5-8. Brooklyn Children’s Museum • 145 Brooklyn Avenue, Brooklyn, NY • brooklynkids.org • (718) 735-4400 THE BOOK ITCH: FREEDOM, TRUTH & HARLEM’S GREATEST BOOKSTORE Vaunda Micheaux Nelson, Illustrated by R. Gregory Christie In the 1930s, Lewis's dad, Lewis Michaux Sr., had an itch he needed to scratch: a book itch. How to scratch it? He started a bookstore in Harlem and named it the National Memorial African Bookstore. And as far as Lewis Michaux Jr. could tell, his father's bookstore was one of a kind. People from all over came to visit the store, including Muhammad Ali and Malcolm X. In his father's bookstore people bought and read books, and they also learned from each other. People swapped and traded ideas and talked about how things could change. They all came together here because of his father's book itch. Read the story of how Lewis Michaux Sr. and his bookstore fostered new ideas and helped people stand up for what they believed in. Ages 7-10. BLUES JOURNEY Walter Dean Myers, Illustrated by Christopher Myers The opening verse of this latest father/son collaboration probes the very essence of a form—and a feeling; it asks the question that anyone who has sought solace in music can relate to. The pair's first composition wandered through a Harlem collage, depicting "a call, a song, the mood indigo, a language of darkness." This new duet is the blues: verbally and visually, it explores the idiom while exemplifying it. A call and response accompanies each painting. As the journey progresses, the lyrics and art look at loss through the lenses of slavery, poverty, lynching, love spurned, fear of dying and of living. An author's note provides a lucid description of the history, elements, and importance of the blues. Ages 10-13. Brooklyn Children’s Museum • 145 Brooklyn Avenue, Brooklyn, NY • brooklynkids.org • (718) 735-4400 BEFORE JOHN WAS A JAZZ GIANT: A SONG OF JOHN COLTRANE Carole Boston Weatherford, Illustrated by Sean Qualls Young John Coltrane was all ears. And there was a lot to hear growing up in the South in the 1930s: preachers praying, music on the radio, the bustling of the household. These vivid noises shaped John's own sound as a musician. Carole Boston Weatherford and Sean Qualls have composed an amazingly rich hymn to the childhood of jazz legend John Coltrane. Before John Was a Jazz Giant is a 2009 Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor Book and a 2009 Bank Street - Best Children's Book of the Year. Ages 5-9. I SEE THE RHYTHM Toyomi Igus, Illustrated by Michele Wood This award-winning picture book invites children along to dance to the rhythm of swing at the Savoy in Harlem, to rejoice to the rhythm of gospel from a church pew on a Sunday morning, and more. Each stunning spread—including art, poetic text, a description of the music style, and a timeline of selected historical events—encompasses the spirit of the times and the strength of the communities where the music was born. Toyomi Igus's lyrical text, matched with artist Michele Wood's daring vision, captures the feel of each style of music and pays tribute to the musicians who gave the music life. Ages 6-13. Brooklyn Children’s Museum • 145 Brooklyn Avenue, Brooklyn, NY • brooklynkids.org • (718) 735-4400 WE ARE THE SHIP: THE STORY OF NEGRO LEAGUE BASEBALL Kadir Nelson, Paintings by Kadir Nelson The story of Negro League baseball is the story of gifted athletes and determined owners; of racial discrimination and international sportsmanship; of fortunes won and lost; of triumphs and defeats on and off the field. It is a perfect mirror for the social and political history of black America in the first half of the twentieth century. But most of all, the story of the Negro Leagues is about hundreds of unsung heroes who overcame segregation, hatred, terrible conditions, and low pay to do the one thing they loved more than anything else in the world: play ball. Ages 8-12. HER STORIES: AFRICAN AMERICAN FOLKTALES, FAIRY TALES, AND TRUE TALES Virginia Hamilton, Illustrated by Leo & Diane Dillon Dedicated to our mothers and grandmothers, aunts and great-aunts, Her Stories is a spirited celebration of our strength, our dreams, and the precious gift of life and love from generation to generation. Gracefully told by Newbery Medalist Virginia Hamilton, the nineteen stories in this book focus on the magical lore and wondrous imaginings of African American women. Vibrant paintings by Caldecott Medalists Leo and Diane Dillon glow with the drama and mystery of each tale while reflecting the warmth and beauty of the people who first told them. Her Stories broadens our understanding of ourselves as well as others—our joys, fears, and wishes as individuals and as a community. Together, stories, illustrations, and the author’s notes combine to create a remarkable book that honors our heritage while giving us hope and inspiration for the future. Ages 4+. Brooklyn Children’s Museum • 145 Brooklyn Avenue, Brooklyn, NY • brooklynkids.org • (718) 735-4400 HARLEM’S LITTLE BLACKBIRD: THE STORY OF FLORENCE MILLS Renee Watson, Illustrated by Christian Robinson From Caldecott Honor winner Christian Robinson and acclaimed author Renee Watson, comes the inspiring true story of Florence Mills. Born to parents who were both former slaves, Florence Mills knew at an early age that she loved to sing, and that her sweet, bird-like voice, resonated with those who heard her. Performing catapulted her all the way to the stages of 1920s Broadway where she inspired everyone from songwriters to playwrights. Yet with all her success, she knew firsthand how prejudice shaped her world and the world of those around her. As a result, Florence chose to support and promote works by her fellow black performers while heralding a call for their civil rights.