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….
Booker T. Washington early years come to life in Fifty Cents and a Dream, detailing how Booker managed to get an education with just fifty cents in his pocket and a dream in his head.
What Martin Luther King Junior did for me and books for kids to realize that MLK did to make the world a better place for us all.