children’s booksthat celebrate theafrican-american

experience

the ferguson librarywww.fergusonlibrary.org

ages birth to threeBang, Molly. Ten Nine Eight (7)A little girl and her dad engagein a simple countdown beforebed that is warm and comfort-ing. E/BB

Cooke, Trish. So MuchWhen relatives begin arrivingfor Daddy’s surprise party,they are unable to resist kiss-ing, hugging and playing withthe baby. EPIC

Cummings, Pat. My AuntCame BackAn adventurous auntie travelsthe world and always bringsback something for her adoringniece. E/BB

Hru, Dakari. Tickle TickleThere is nothing better than alittle tickle time spent betweenfather and son. EPIC

Isadora, Rachel. PeekabooMorningA busy toddler spends themorning joyfully playing hideand seek and shouting “peeka-boo”. EPIC

Lee, Spike and Tonya Lee.Please, Baby, PleaseKeeping up with an energetictoddler is not easy, but amother’s patience goes a longway. EPIC

Price, Hope Lynne. These HandsHands have a lot of power andbeauty, no matter how small.EPIC

Smith, Charles R. Jr. BrownSugar BabiesA celebration of caramel,chocolate and honey coloredbabies cute enough to eat. EPIC

Smith, Charles R. Jr. My GirlVibrant photographs and classic Motown lyrics come to-gether in this delightful boardbook that you will want toshare with your own “babylove”. E/BB

Thomas, Joyce Carol. JoyThe seasons may come and gobut a mother always finds joyin her little boy. E/BB

ages 3 to 5 picture booksBuckley, Helen. Grandfather and IWhile everyone else in the fam-ily always seems to be in arush, a loving grandfather un-derstands the importance ofspending unhurried time withhis grandson. EPIC

Carter, Don.Heaven’s All- StarJazz BandA little boy imagines that hisjazz loving grandpa is in heavenmaking music with all the leg-endary jazz greats. EPIC

Daly, Nikki. The Boy on theBeachInstead of jumping waves withhis parents, a little boy goes offby himself and finds his ownfun on the beach—until he real-izes that he is lost. EPIC

Dillon, Leo, and Diane Dillon.Rap A Tap Tap: Here’s Bojan-gles—Think of That!In this artistic tribute, leg-endary dancer Bill “Bojangles”Robinson seems to tap acrossthe pages along with the words.EPIC

Diouf, Sylviane. Bintou’s BraidsBintou desperately wants to wearher hair in long braids but is not

old enough according to villagetradition. Her wise grandmother,however, finds a way to make herordinary hairstyle extraordinary.EPIC

Hoffman, Mary. Amazing GraceWhen two classmates try todiscourage her from audition-ing for the lead role in a classplay, Grace triumphantlyshows them that gender andcolor have nothing to do withbeing the best. EPIC

Howard, Elizabeth Fitzgerald. Lulu’s BirthdayAlthough Aunt Lulu is havingtrouble deciding how to spendher birthday, her young nieceand nephew know exactly whatto do. EPIC

Nelson, Vaunda. Ready? Set.Raymond! In this beginning reader Ray-mond does everything fast, in-cluding brushing his teeth andmaking new friends. EBEG

Nolen, Jerdine.Harvey Potter’sBalloon FarmIf you want to learn the secret togrowing balloons, just take a fewtips from a mysterious farmernamed Harvey Potter. EPIC

Parker, Toni. Hugs and HeartsCharming photographs andsimple rhymes celebrate thesweetest day of the year. EPIC

Steptoe, John. Mufaro’s Beautiful Daughters (3, 7)Everyone says that Mufaro has two equally beautifuldaughters. So when the kingannounces his wish to marrythe most beautiful and worthymaiden in the land, he is de-lighted. But is their beautytruly equal? EPIC

Siegelson, Kim. In the Time ofthe DrumsWhen a group of newly capturedslaves arrives at Sea Island, theyare greeted by drums and ledback home by a mysterious con-jure woman. EPIC

Williams, Sheron. Imani’sMusicWhen an African grasshopperfinds himself aboard a slaveship, the only thing he has tooffer the captives is his musicwhich they take with them tothe new world. EPIC

ages 9 to 12 fictionBurns, Khephra. Mansa Musa:The Lion of MaliThe early life of Mali’s great14th century leader is toldthrough this lavishly illustratedfictionalized account. JBEG

Curtis, Christopher Paul. TheWatsons Go to Birmingham—1963 (2, 6)Kenny and the “weird Wat-sons” (his family) head south tovisit grandma and unexpectedlywitness history. JFIC

English, Karen. Francie (1)Life isn’t easy for Francie, a quiet,smart girl, who loves trains andscooter pies and who is growingup in rural Alabama during the1930s. JFIC

Fenner, Carol. Yolonda’s Ge-nius (2) While most peopleview Yolonda’s little brother asbeing “slow,” she believes thathe is musically gifted and de-cides to show the world. JFIC

Flake, Sharon. The Skin I’m InTeased because of her extremely

dark skin, thirteen-year-oldMaleeka slowly learns a lesson inself acceptance when a new teacher(with a prominent birthmark onher face) arrives at her school.JFIC

Grimes, Nikki. Jazmin’s Note-book (2)While growing up in Harlemduring the 1960s , a fourteen-year-old girl discovers that writ-ing can be empowering. JFIC

Hamilton, Virginia. The Houseof Dies DrearAfter moving into a house that was once used as part of the Un-derground Railroad, the Smallfamily experiences a series ofstrange happenings and sensedanger. JFIC

Johnson, Angela. When MulesFlew on Magnolia StreetCharlie spends her summerfishing, solving a mystery andmaking new friends. JFIC

McGill, Alice. Here We GoRoundWhen her mother is put on bedrest during the last month ofher pregnancy, seven-year-oldRoberta is sent to stay with hergrandparents in the country.She is already feeling ambiva-lent about the new baby; willthis separation make mattersworse? JFIC

Mead, Alice. Junebug in TroubleAfter moving away from atough housing project, Junebugdiscovers that one of his oldbuddies is showing an interestin gangs. Wanting to help,Junebug finds himself reachingout to his troubled friend andsurprisingly to his own impris-oned dad as well. JFIC

Myers, Walter Dean. Slam! (1)A talented high school basket-ball player realizes the need toimprove his “off court” skillsjust as much as his ball playingskills. JFIC

Pearsall, Shelley. Trouble Don’tLastBeing a slave is the only lifethat eleven-year-old Samuelknows. Unexpectedly awak-ened one night by his oldfriend Harrison, he is forced to leave behind his miserablefamiliar life in exchange for aperilous journey and a fainthope of freedom. JFIC

Taylor, Mildred. The Land (1)Paul Edward, son of a whiteplantation owner and a slave, is determined to succeed on his own in post-Civil War Mis-sissippi. A prequel to the New-bery Award-winning Roll ofThunder Hear My Cry. JFIC YA FIC

Wesley, Valerie Wilson. Willi-mena and the Cookie MoneyIn her attempt to help the less fortunate, Willimena spends themoney that she has collectedselling girl scout cookies. Nowshe and her sister must find away to raise the money beforeanyone finds out. JFIC

Woodson, Jacqueline. Locomo-tion.An eleven year old orphan living in foster care, finds a newway to express himself when heis encouraged to write poetry. JFIC

Wyeth, Sharon. A Piece ofHeavenDespite having an unstablehome life, thirteen-year-old

Haley remains optimistic be-cause of a special friendship.JFIC

nonfiction forolder childrenClinton, Catherine. I, Too,Sing America: Three Centuriesof African-American PoetryIn this anthology, twenty-fivepoets are represented by theirpoems and described in shortbiographical sketches. J 821.08I

Curry, Barbara K. SweetWords So Brave: The Story ofAfrican-American LiteratureA grandfather enthusiasticallyshares the history and literatureof African Americans with hisgranddaughter. J 820.9C

Duggleby, John. Story Painter: The Life of Jacob LawrenceJacob Lawrence’s life, the cul-ture of Harlem in the 1930’s,and his colorful art are all in-troduced in this biography, il-lustrated with numerous printsof the artist’s works. JB LAWRENCE

Green, Michelle Y. A StrongRight Arm: The Story ofMamie “Peanut” JohnsonJohnson played professionalbaseball in the Negro Leagues,facing prejudice against bothher race and her gender. J 796.357G

Hamilton, Virginia. Her Stories: African-AmericanFolktales, Fairy Tales and TrueTales (1)

A wonderful, award-winning collection of stories, in a vari-ety of styles, that feature strongAfrican-American women. J 398.2H

Hansen, Joyce. BreakingGround, Breaking Silence: TheStory of New York’s AfricanBurial Ground (2)The graves in an African burialsite, uncovered by archaeolo-gists in Manhattan in 1991,tell the story of how AfricanAmericans lived in New Yorkduring the colonial period. J 305.567H

Hoobler, Dorothy and ThomasHoobler. The African- Ameri-can Family AlbumThe stories of individualAfrican Americans are toldthrough interviews, letters andother original documents, andin pictures. J 973.049H

Igus, Toyomi. I See theRhythm (3)A survey of African-Americanmusic from African and slavesongs to rap and hip-hop, toldin text and paintings. J780.89I

Jemison, Mae. Find Where the Wind Goes: Moments fromMy LifeFunny and inspirational anec-dotes from the life of America’sfirst female African-Americanastronaut. JB JEMISON

Lasky. Kathryn. Vision ofBeauty: The Story of SarahBreedlove WalkerA richly illustrated biographyof Madame C.J. Walker, thedaughter of freed slaves whobecame an entrepreneur at the

turn of the 20th century. JB WALKER

McKissack, Fredrick. BlackHoops: The History of AfricanAmericans in BasketballBasketball’s history from anAfrican-American perspective,from the game’s beginning in 1891, through the era of segre-gated teams, to the many blackstars of the NBA and WNBAin the 1990’s. J 796.323M

McKissack, Patricia C. andFrederick McKissack. BlackHands, White Sails (2)This story of African-Americanmen who worked in the whaling industry in the18th and 19th centuries ex-plores the connections betweenwhaling and the abolitionistmovement. J 639.28M

Medearis, Angela Shelf. Dare to Dream: Coretta ScottKing and the Civil RightsMovementAs a child in Alabama, CorettaScott faced segregation and prejudice, and dreamed ofracial equality. As an adult shehelped her husband, the Rev-erend Martin Luther King, Jr.,lead the Civil Rights Move-ment. JB KING

Nelson, Marilyn. Carver: A Life in Poems (2,6)A sophisticated collection of poems that eloquently tellsthe story of renowned educatorand botanist George Washing-ton Carver. TEEN 821 C332Ne

Stuve-Bodeen, Stephanie, Eliz-abeti’s DollWhile her mother tends to herbaby brother, Elizabeti lovinglycares for her own baby, whichhappens to be a rock. EPIC

Tarpley, Natasha. Bippity BopBarbershopMiles is excited and a bit anx-ious about his first trip to thebarbershop. Luckily for him,his dad has the perfect solution.EPIC

Wilson-Max, Ken. Max’s StarryNightA little boy helps an elephantovercome his fear of the dark.EPIC

Zolotow, Charlotte. Do YouKnow What I’ll Do? An old children’s favorite thatshows the love between sib-lings, newly illustrated withstriking collage art by JavakaSteptoe. EPIC

easy nonfictionAdedjouma. Davida, editor.The Palm of My Heart: Poetryby African-American ChildrenA collection of twenty poemsby children, celebrating “black”in their lives. J821.08P

Allen, Debbie. Brothers of the KnightThe classic tale of “The TwelveDancing Princesses” gets a new setting, Harlem, and a newcast, twelve boys who danceholes in their hightops.J398.208A

Bolden, Tonya. Rock of Ages: A Tribute to the Black ChurchThe history and importance ofthe Black Church is thought-

fully presented in poetic wordsand stirring pictures. E 821B

Bridges, Ruby. Through My EyesIn 1960, when she was six,Ruby Bridges was the firstblack student at an all-whiteschool in New Orleans. Here,she describes that experienceand her life since. J 379.263B

Cline-Ransome, Lesa. Satchel PaigeLegendary pitcher Leroy(Satchel) Paige played in theNegro Leagues and the MajorLeagues, and was the firstAfrican American inductedinto the Baseball Hall of Fame.J 796.357P

Cooper, Floyd. Coming Home:From the Life of LangstonHughesIn this story of the famouspoet’s childhood, youngLangston lives mainly with hisgrandmother and a foster fam-ily and dreams of a permanenthome with his parents. EBHughes

Greenfield, Eloise. Rosa ParksAn illustrated biography of thewoman who, by bravely refus-ing to give her bus seat to awhite person in 1955, is cred-ited with beginning the CivilRights Movement. JB PARKS

Hudson, Wade, editor. Pass ItOn: African-American Poetryfor ChildrenThis collection, by an assortment ofwell-known African-Americanpoets, conveys the pain and joy ofthe African-American experience.E 821.08P

Lester, Julius, Jerry Pinkney, illustrator. John Henry (7)John Henry pits his strengthagainst a steam drill in this

award-winning picture bookversion of a classic black folkballad. E398.21L

Kuklin, Susan. Hoops withSwoopesA simple introduction to bas-ketball becomes a one-womanshow when WNBA star CherylSwoopes gets the ball.E796.323S

McKissack. Patricia C. andFredrick L. McKissack. Christmas in the Big House,Christmas in the Quarters (1)Holiday celebrations are very different for the slaves and themasters on a Southern planta-tion just before the Civil War. J 975.03M

Myers. Walter Dean. MalcolmX: A Fire Burning BrightlyA picture book biography of the well-known civil rights activist, written by an award-winning author. JBX, MALCOLM

Pinkney, Andrea Davis, Brian Pinkney, illustrator. Duke ElIington: The PianoPrince and His Orchestra (4,7)There’s a sense of his music inboth the writing and the illus-tration of this picture bookabout jazz great Duke Elling-ton. E 781.65E

Pinkney, Sandra L. Shades ofBlack: A Celebration of OurChildrenTrue to its title, this book cele-brates the physical beauty of avariety of African-American children in text and photo-graphs. EPIC

Rappaport, Doreen, Brian Col-lier, illustrator. Martin’s BigWords: The Life of Dr. MartinLuther King, Jr. (4,7)A combination of magnificent artwork, refreshing text andKing’s own powerful wordsmake this an outstanding tribute. EB KING

Rockwell, Anne, GregoryChristie, illustrator. Only Pass-ing Through (4)Isabella was born a slave inNew York, but after beingfreed in 1826, she became So-journer Truth and traveledaround the country telling people about the horrors ofslavery. EB TRUTH

Ryan, Pam Munoz. When Marian Sang: The TrueRecital of Marian AndersonMarian Anderson was an ac-claimed singer in Europe, but she had to overcome racismbefore she could sing with theMetropolitan Opera in theUnited States. EB ANDER-SON

San Souci, Robert D., JerryPinkney, illustrator. The Talking Eggs: A Folktale from the American South (4)In long-ago Louisiana, two sisters with very different personalities meet an oldwoman who has a chickenhouse full of magical talkingeggs. E 398.2S

Schroeder, Alan, Jerry Pinkney, illustrator. Minty: A Story of Young Har-riet Tubman (3)A fictionalized account of the childhood of Harriet Tub-man, who is famous for herwork helping slaves escape to

freedom on the UndergroundRailroad. EB TUBMAN

Steptoe, Javaka, illustrator. In Daddy’s Arms I Am Tall:African Americans CelebratingFathers (3)This collection of poems about African-American fa-thers is enhanced by Steptoe’saward-winning mixed media il-lustrations. E 821.08I

ages 6 to 8 easy fictionBledsoe, Lucy Jane. The BigBike RaceWhen he receives a big clunkyused bike for his tenth birth-day, Ernie’s dream of being abike racer seems beyond hisreach at first. JBEG

Cameron, Ann. Gloria RisingGloria’s chance meeting with afamous astronaut makes a bigimpression on her and helpsher cope with a difficultteacher. JBEG

Cummings, Pat. Ananse andthe Lizard: A West African TaleAnanse, the tricky little spider,gets out tricked by a cleverlizard in this folktale fromGhana. E398.2 C

Grifalconi, Ann. The Villagethat VanishedIn order to save their villagefrom the approaching slavetraders, the Yao people set asidetheir fears and devise a planthat requires them to use theirheads as well as their hearts tosurvive. JBEG

Herman, Gail. Just Like MikeWhen his mother remarries,Michael’s last name is changedfrom Brown to Jordan andthe kids at his new school can’tseem to stop comparing hispoor basketball skills to the“other Michael”. JBEG

Howard, Elizabeth Fitzgerald.Virgie Goes to School with UsBoys (4)Following the Civil War a littlegirl named Virgie is determinedto go to school along with herbrothers, despite the seven milewalk and their reluctance to takeher. JBEG

McKissack, Patricia. Goin’Someplace Special (7)During the era of segregation,Tricia Ann pays a visit to theone place in town that is opento all. JBEG

Nolen, Jerdine. Big JabeWhile fishing, a young slavenamed Addy finds a little boyin a basket floating down theriver and life on the plantationis never the same again. JBEG

Pinkney, Brian. Cosmo and theRobotWhat is a kid on Mars supposeto do when his beloved robotstarts acting like a monster andmust be cast off to the asteroiddump? Cosmo’s brand newsolar system utility belt mayhelp. EPIC

Ringgold, Faith. Tar Beach (3)On warm nights Cassie escapesto tar beach (her rooftop) andenvisions herself flying over theGeorge Washington Bridge.EPIC

Patrick, Diane. The New YorkPublic Library AmazingAfrican American History:A Book of Answers for KidsThis book, one in a series produced by the New York Public Library, presentsAfrican-American history in aquestion and answer format. J 973.049P

Robinson, Sharon. Jackie’sNine: Jackie Robinson’s Values to Live ByThe baseball great’s daughterexplores the nine hard-wonvalues that helped JackieRobinson achieve his goals. J 796.357R

Sanders, Nancy I. A Kid’sGuide to African-AmericanHistoryOver 70 activities are includedin this overview that beginswith the glories of ancientAfrica and concludes with theachievements of present-dayAfrican Americans. J 973.049S

Tillage, Leon Walter. Leon’ sStoryA moving memoir by a manwho spent his childhood as theson of a sharecropper in thesegregated and racist South. J 975.655T

The Young Oxford History ofAfrican AmericansThis comprehensive and read-able eleven volume set coversAfrican-American history fromthe early 16th century to the1990’s. J 973.049Y

books for parentsMurphy, Barbara Thrash.Black Authors and Illustratorsof Books for Children andYoung AdultsEach entry in this biographicaldictionary tells briefly aboutthe author’s or illustrator’s life,lists his or her publications andoften contains a photograph ofthe subject. R-J 011.62M 1999

Rand, Donna and Toni TrentParker. Black Books Galore!Guide to More Great African-American Children’s BooksThis fourth book in an illus-trated, award-winning seriescan help parents identify quality African-Americanbooks for their children. J 015.73R PROF. COLL.

Smith, Henrietta M, editor.The Coretta Scott King AwardsBook 1970–1999An exploration of the booksthat have won the covetedCoretta Scott King Award,which includes author inter-views, book quotes, and illus-trations from award winners. J 929.81C 1999 PARENTSCOLL.

Toussaint, Pamela. Great Books for African-AmericanChildrenThis useful source of introductions to great African-American children’s booksalso suggests book discussionquestions for each entry. R-J 028.162T

1 Coretta Scott King Author Award2 Coretta Scott King Author Honor3 Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award4 Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor5 Newbery Medal Winner6 Newbery Honor7 Caldecott Honor

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