A 2022 Coretta Scott King Book Award Honoree!
This luminous, defining picture book biography illustrated by Caldecott Honoree Christian Robinson, tells the remarkable and inspiring story of acclaimed singer Nina Simone and her bold, defiant, and exultant legacy.
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A powerful biography in poems about a trailblazing artist and a pillar of the Harlem Renaissance—with an afterword by the curator of the Art & Artifacts Division of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture.
Augusta Savage was arguably the most influential American artist of the 1930s.
Coretta Scott King Author Honor Award
The stunning voice and hard life of legendary jazz singer Billie Holiday is revealed through evocative, accessible poetry.
See the world through Faith Ringgold's eyes and be inspired to produce your own masterpieces.
The Faith Ringgold The Sunflower Quilting Bee at Arles 1000 Piece Puzzle from Galison features Ringgold's colorful painting of eight powerful African American women from the past, including Sojourner Truth, Harriet Tubman, Rosa Parks, and more. Born 1930 in Harlem, New York, Ringgold is a painter, mixed media sculptor, performance artist, writer, teacher and lecturer.
Back in 1909, not far from Jackson, Mississippi, Dr. Laurence Clifton Jones opened a special place for orphans named Piney Woods Country Life School. Dr. Jones loved music and wanted the children to love it too. In 1939 he started a school band that was just for girls, and he called it the Sweethearts. The music the girls played was called swing.
Ida B. Wells, Voice of Truth is an inspiring picture book biography of the groundbreaking journalist and civil rights activist as told by her great-granddaughter Michelle Duster and illustrated by Coretta Scott King Award Honoree artist Laura Freeman.
A Coretta Scott King Author Honor Book
A Walter Dean Myers Honor Book
From the New York Times bestselling author and National Book Award finalist, a biography in verse and prose of science fiction visionary Octavia Butler, author of Parable of the Sower and Kindred.
" 'I, Too,' one of preeminent African American poet and intellectual Langston Hughes' most influential literary works, is reinstantiated and reinterpreted transhistorically in this board-book adaptation of the 1926 poem.
In this book from the #1 New York Times bestselling series, learn how this vibrant Black neighborhood in upper Manhattan became home to the leading Black writers, artists, and musicians of the 1920s and 1930s.
From New York Times bestselling and award-winning author and American Ballet Theatre principal dancer Misty Copeland comes an illustrated nonfiction collection celebrating dancers of color who have influenced her on and off the stage.
As a young girl living in a motel with her mother and her five siblings, Misty Copeland didn’t have a lot of exposure to ballet or promine
An awe-inspiring African American woman! A talented seamstress, born a slave, bought freedom for herself and her son.
“A powerful story.” —The Horn Book
“A worthy addition to children’s biography collections.” —Booklist
“A solid treatment of an important but little-known figure, and it may prompt kids to think about the role and composition of a free press.” —BCCB
“Cline-Ransome t
A beautiful picture book about Ann Cole Lowe, a little-known African-American fashion designer who battled personal and social adversity in order to pursue her passion of making beautiful gowns and went on to become one of society's top designers.
Wisps of cloth would fall from their worktables like confetti,
and Ann would scoop them up and turn them into flowers
In this international bestseller from the critically acclaimed Little People, BIG DREAMS series, discover the incredible life of Maya Angelou, the powerful speaker, writer, and civil rights activist.
Maya Angelou spent much of her childhood in Stamps, Arkansas. After a traumatic event at age eight, she stopped speaking for five years.
Best Children's Books of the Year, Bank Street College of Education
Editor's Choice, Booklist
Notable Books in the Language Arts, National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE)
Amelia Bloomer Project - Feminist Task Force, American Library Association (ALA)
Notable Poetry List, National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE)
In luminous paintings and arresting poems, two of children’s literature’s top African-American scholars track Arturo Schomburg’s quest to correct history.
Where is our historian to give us our side? Arturo asked.
Born in Missouri in 1928, Maya Angelou had a difficult childhood. Jim Crow laws segregated blacks and whites in the South. Her family life was unstable at times. But much like her poem, "Still I Rise," Angelou was able to lift herself out of her situation and flourish.
Zora Neale Hurston was confident, charismatic, and determined to be extraordinary. As a young woman, Hurston lived and wrote alongside such prominent authors as Langston Hughes and Alain Locke during the Harlem Renaissance. But unfortunately, despite writing the luminary work Their Eyes Were Watching God, she was always short of money.
Get to know the real Misty Copeland in this easy reader biography and discover how she made her dream of becoming a ballerina come true!
Misty Copeland is one of the most famous dancers in the world. But before she was dancing for millions of fans, Misty was just a young girl who loved ballet, even though she didn't look like the typical ballerina.
Pirouette across the stage and get to know Misty Copeland—the first African-American woman to become a principal ballerina with the American Ballet Theater—in this fascinating, nonfiction Level 3 Ready-to-Read, part of a new series of biographies about people “you should meet.”
Misty Copeland had always dreamed of becoming a dancer, but she had many obstacles
"The well-known author retells 24 black American folk tales in sure storytelling voice: animal tales, supernatural tales, fanciful and cautionary tales, and slave tales of freedom. All are beautifully readable. With the added attraction of 40 wonderfully expressive paintings by the Dillons, this collection should be snapped up."--(starred) School Library Journal.
Meet Ella Fitzgerald, one of the most influential jazz singers of all time!
This lyrical, loving picture book from popular singer-songwriter Laura Veirs and debut illustrator Tatyana Fazlalizadeh tells the story of the determined, gifted, daring Elizabeth Cotten—one of the most celebrated American folk musicians of all time.
With evocative black-and-white illustrations and moving prose, readers are introduced to jazz-music legend and civil-rights activist Nina Simone.
Winner of the Coretta Scott King Illustration Award! From a New York Times bestselling author and an acclaimed illustrator comes this vibrant portrait of Aretha Franklin that pays her the R-E-S-P-E-C-T this Queen of Soul deserves.
Aretha Franklin was born to sing.
From acclaimed author and illustrator pairing comes a beautiful picture book biography about the Queen of Soul Aretha Franklin and how she fought for respect throughout her life.
Aretha Franklin is the Queen of Soul, a legend. But before she became a star, she was a shy little girl with a voice so powerful it made people jump up, sway, and hum along.
Discover more about Stevie Wonder, the music prodigy whose awards include 25 Grammy Awards and the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
There is only one QUEEN OF SOUL! Discover why Aretha Franklin garners so much R-E-S-P-E-C-T.
How did a working-class young man from Washington, DC, turn the music world on its head and become the "Master Of Jazz"? Find out in this addition to the Who HQ library!
If not for a stint in reform school, young Louis Armstrong might never have become a musician. It was a teacher at the Colored Waifs Home who gave him a cornet, promoted him to band leader, and saw talent in the tough kid from the even tougher New Orleans neighborhood called Storyville.
Growing up in the late 19th century, Laura Wheeler Waring didn't see any artists who looked like her. She didn't see any paintings of people who looked like her, either. As a young woman studying art in Paris, she found inspiration in the works of Matisse and Gaugin to paint the people she knew best.
The biggest names…the coolest sounds…the 40 most inspirational movers, shakers, and innovators in black music are here! In this fun, fact-packed book from the 40 Inspiring Icons series, learn how these black musicians changed music, from the creation of blues to the invention of rap.
Meet the Godfather of Funk, the High Priestess of Soul, and the King of Reggae.
Step into the colorful world of Guyana-born British-American abstract artist Frank Bowling! This book is bursting with wonderful activities and ideas for budding young artists. Join Tate curator Zoé Whitley and illustrator Hélène Baum on a vibrant journey through the works of Frank Bowling, and make your own artwork along the way!
Busy city! Beep, beep, beep!
Jacob Lawrence's exuberant artwork guides readers through a bustling city, complete with builders rat-a-tatting and children playing in the streets. With rhythmic text and 11 iconic paintings, this book is both an introduction to an influential artist and a celebration of city life.
A bestselling and prizewinning memoir by African American ballerina Misty Copeland, Life in Motion is the vividly told story of her journey to the world-class American Ballet Theatre—and delves into the harrowing family conflicts that nearly drove her away from ballet as a thirteen-year-old prodigy.
Determination meets dance in this New York Times bestselling memo
A bestselling and prize-winning memoir by African American ballerina Misty Copeland, Life in Motion is the vividly told story of her journey to the world-class American Ballet Theatre—and delves into the harrowing family conflicts that nearly drove her away from ballet as a thirteen-year-old prodigy.
Determination meets dance in this New York Times bestselling mem
Winner of the Randolph Caldecott Medal and the Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award
Jane Addams Children's Book Award, Jane Addams Peace Association
Junior Library Guild Selection
Orbis Pictus Award for Outstanding Nonfiction, Recommended Title, National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE)
Choices, 2021, Cooperative Children's Book Center (CCBC)You've seen the building. Now meet the man whose life went into it.
His white teacher tells her all-black class, You’ll all wind up porters and waiters. What did she know? Gordon Parks is most famous for being the first black director in Hollywood. But before he made movies and wrote books, he was a poor African American looking for work. When he bought a camera, his life changed forever. He taught himself how to take pictures and before long, people noticed.
Illus. in black-and-white. This classic collection of poetry is available in a handsome new gift edition that includes seven additional poems written after The Dream Keeper was first published. In a larger format, featuring Brian Pinkney's scratchboard art on every spread, Hughes's inspirational message to young people is as relevant today as it was in 1932.
A picture-book biography of celebrated poet Gwendolyn Brooks, the first Black person to win the Pulitzer Prize
A 2021 Coretta Scott King Book Award Illustrator Honor Book
A 2021 Robert F.
A reimagined and modern take on the holiday favorite, this picture book weaves together the classic Christmas tale of The Nutcracker and the true-life story of 12-year-old ballerina Charlotte Nebres, the first Black girl to play Marie in the New York City Ballet’s production.
"Lyons delivers the history of a song that has inspired generations of African-Americans to persist and resist in the face of racism and systemic oppression. . . . A heartfelt history of a historic anthem."--Publishers Weekly
Sing a song full of the faith that the dark past has taught us.
Sing a song full of the hope that the present has brought us.
Winner • NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work (Fiction)
Winner • Anne Izard Storytellers’ Choice Award
Holiday Gift Guide Selection • Indiewire, San Francisco Chronicle, and Minneapolis Star-TribuneThese nearly 150 African American folktales animate our past and reclaim a lost cultural legacy to redefine American literature.
In this book from the critically acclaimed, multimillion-copy best-selling Little People, BIG DREAMS series, discover the life of Aretha Franklin, "The Queen of Soul."
The fourth of five children, Aretha was born in Tennessee and took the stage at an early age in her father's church choir.
The poignant story of Blind Willie Johnson--the legendary Texas musician whose song "Dark Was the Night" was included on the Voyager I space probe's Golden Record
Since the early nineteenth century, the women of Gee’s Bend in southern Alabama have created stunning, vibrant quilts. In the only photo-essay book about the quilts of Gee’s Bend for children, award-winning author Susan Goldman Rubin explores the history and culture of this fascinating group of women and their unique quilting traditions.
"One Last Word is the work of a master poet." - Kwame Alexander, Newbery Medal-winning author of The Crossover
