Lists and Suggestions for Kids
List: Coretta Scott King & John Steptoe Illustrator Winners, 1990-Present
R-E-S-P-E-C-T: Aretha Franklin, The Queen of Soul
Weatherford, Carole Boston, 1956- author.
"Aretha Franklin was born to sing. The daughter of a pastor and a gospel singer, her musical ta...
The Undefeated
Alexander, Kwame.
Also available in Overdrive. "The Newbery Award-winning author of The Crossover pens an ode to...
What Is Given from the Heart
McKissack, Patricia C.
Despite their own poverty since Daddy died, Mama tells nine-year-old James Otis they need to help S...
The Stuff of Stars
Bauer, Marion Dane.
Also available in Hoopla and RB Digital. Explores the formation of the universe. ...
Thank You, Omu!
Mora, Oge.
Also available in Overdrive and Hoopla. When the aroma of Omu's homemade stew fills the air, h...
Out of Wonder: Poems Celebrating Poets
Alexander, Kwame.
Also available in Hoopla. Presents a collection of twenty poems written in tribute to well-known po...
Mama Africa!: How Miriam Makeba Spread Hope With Her Song
Erskine, Kathryn.
A harrowing picture biography of civil-rights activist and Grammy Award-winning South African singe...
Radiant Child: The Story of Young Artist Jean-Michel Basquiat
Steptoe, Javaka.
Jean-Michel Basquiat and his unique, collage-style paintings rocked to fame in the 1980s as a cultu...
Trombone Shorty
Andrews, Troy.
Also available in Overdrive and Hoopla. Hailing from the Tremé neighborhood in New Orleans, Troy &q...
Voice of Freedom: Fannie Lou Hamer, Spirit of the Civil Rights Movement
Weatherford, Carole Boston.
Also available in Hoopla. Presents a collage-illustrated treasury of poems and spirituals inspired ...
Knock Knock: My Dad's Dream For Me
Beaty, Daniel.
"A boy wakes up one morning to find his father gone. At first, he feels lost. But his father h...
When the Beat Was Born: DJ Kool Herc and the Creation of Hip Hop
Hill, Laban Carrick.
Before there was hip hop, there was DJ Kool Herc. On a hot day at the end of summer in 1973 Cindy C...
I, Too, Am America
Hughes, Langston.
Presents the popular poem by one of the central figures in the Harlem Renaissance, highlighting the...
Dave the Potter: Artist, Poet, Slave
Hill, Laban Carrick.
Chronicles the life of Dave, a nineteenth-century slave who went on to become an influential poet, ...
Seeds of Change: Planting a Path to Peace
Johnson, Jen Cullerton.
"A biography of Kenyan Nobel Peace Prize winner and environmentalist Wangari Maathai, a female...
My People
Hughes, Langston.
Hughes's spare yet eloquent tribute to his people has been cherished for generations. Now, acc...
The Blacker the Berry
Thomas, Joyce Carol.
A collection of poems, including "Golden Goodness," "Cranberry Red," and "...
Bird
Elliott, Zetta.
Bird, an artistic young African American boy, expresses himself through drawing as he struggles to ...
Let It Shine: Three Favorite Spirituals
Bryan, Ashley.
Illustrated versions of three well-known hymns. ...
Moses: When Harriet Tubman Led Her People to Freedom
Weatherford, Carole Boston.
Describes Tubman's spiritual journey as she hears the voice of God guiding her north to freedo...
Rosa
Giovanni, Nikki.
Also available in Hoopla. On December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks boarded a Montgomery, Alabama city bus and...
Ellington Was Not A Street
Shange, Ntozake.
Also available in Hoopla. In this reflective poetic tribute, the author remembers growing up when ma...
Beautiful Blackbird
Bryan, Ashley.
Also available in Overdrive. In a story of the Ila people, the colorful birds of Africa ask Blackbi...
My Family Plays Music
Cox, Judy.
A musical family with talents for playing a variety of instruments enjoys getting together to celeb...
Talkin' About Bessie: The Story of Aviator Elizabeth Coleman
Grimes, Nikki.
A biography of the woman who became the first licensed Afro-American pilot. ...
The Moon Ring
DuBurke, Randy.
Also available in Hoopla. One hot night, Maxine goes on a wild adventure thanks to the magic of the...
Goin’ Someplace Special
McKissack, Patricia C.
In segregated 1950s Nashville, a young African American girl braves a series of indignities and obs...
Freedom Summer
Wiles, Deborah.
Joe and John Henry are the best of friends, but being black in the South in 1964, John Henry is not ...
Uptown
Collier, Bryan.
A tour of the sights of Harlem, including the Metro-North Train, brownstones, shopping on 125th Stre...
In the Time of the Drums
Siegelson, Kim L.
Mentu, an American-born slave boy, watches his beloved grandmother, Twi, lead the insurrection at T...
I See the Rhythm
Igus, Toyomi.
Chronicles and captures poetically the history, mood, and movement of African American music. ...
In Daddy’s Arms I am Tall: African Americans Celebrating Fathers
Steptoe, Javaka.
A collection of poems celebrating African-American fathers by Angela Johnson, E. Ethelbert Miller, ...
Minty, A Story of Young Harriet Tubman
Schroeder, Alan.
Also available in Overdrive. Young Harriet Tubman, whose childhood name was Minty, dreams of escapi...
Soul Looks Back in Wonder
Feelings, Tom.
Artwork and poems by such writers as Maya Angelou, Langston Hughes, and Askia Toure portray the cre...
Tar Beach
Ringgold, Faith.
A young girl dreams of flying above her Harlem home, claiming all she sees for herself and her fami...