I know very little about the continent of Africa so today I wanted to explore it through picture books. These five books show different perspectives from the story of a young Masaii girl who wants to touch the moon to visiting family in Tanzania and The Gambia. I was surprised to learn that the people…
I am thrilled to be co-posting with Valarie Budayr of Jump Into A Book for the Book Across America blog tour. I was late to the sign up to my birth state of California was already taken, as well as Massachusetts where I now reside. No matter. Tennessee was open where Valarie lives so I…
February is Black History Month and I’m celebrating with a round-up of books that I hope teach and inspire for different reasons. I have two biographies on Sun Ra, a jazz legend, and Malcolm X, the great civil rights leader. I chose Lend a Hand for the inspiring poems and inclusive illustrations that urge readers…
Valarie Budayr and I were so excited to meet the Children’s Africana Book Awards at the National Social Studies Meeting. 2014 Children’s Africana Book Awards Africa Access was founded in 1989 to help schools, public libraries, and parents improve the quality of their K-12 collections about Africa. In 1991, Africa Access in collaboration with the Outreach Council* of…
“Life’s most persistent and urgent question is: ‘What are you doing for others?’” Dr. Martin Luther King Jr image from Wikipedia To celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day on January 20th, I thought I would compile my previous posts on MLK Day and the Civil Rights Movement. I hope these lists will be helpful if…
Today, when I searched for a perfect picture book for Picture Book of the Day, a picture book on Civil Rights for kids found me. As Fast as Words Could Fly had been sitting on my pile waiting patiently. A long while. But just yesterday, I had the honor and privilege of bringing Civil Rights…
Learn how to explain the history of enslavement to kids with these children’s books about slavery, from the Underground Railroad to Frederick Douglas. “It [Enslavement] is such a major part of American history, but it gets glossed over. I mean, the foundation of our early economy was based on slavery, and that’s missing,” Berry said….