¡Cómo Brilla! la Experiencia Africano-Americana

by Trish Cooke. Illustrated by Paul Howard.

Jay Jay’s Grannie’s house is the place to be as his extended family gathers for a delicious, plentiful Sunday dinner!

(jPS COOK) Ages 2-6

Also: So Much

by Marguerite W. Davol. Illustrated by Irene Trivas.

A mixed-race girl describes characteristics she has inherited from both her parents as well as their varied tastes, and how her family feels “just right.”

(jPS DAVO) Ages 3-7

I Lost My Tooth in Africa

by Penda Diakité. Illustrated by Bab Wagué Diakité.

When your tooth falls out in Mali, the tooth fairy doesn’t give you money, she gives you chickens!

(jPS DIAK) Ages 4-8

Hot Day on Abbott Avenue

by Karen English. Illustrated by Javaka Steptoe.

Best friends have a “never-going to-be-friends-again day.”

(jPS ENGL) Ages 5-8

Also: The Baby on the Way

Welcome Precious

by Nikki Grimes. Illustrated by Bryan Collier.

Loving parents share the gifts of our natural world with their baby.

(jPS GRIM) Ages 1-3

Under the Quilt of Night

by Deborah Hopkinson. Illustrated by James E. Ransome.

A slave girl poetically describes the urgency of her escape to freedom on the Underground Railroad.

(jPS HOPK) Ages 6-10

Also: Sweet Clara and the Freedom Quilt and A Band of Angels

I Dream of Trains

by Angela Johnson. Illustrated by Loren Long.

A young sharecropper longs to ride with legendary train engineer, Casey Jones, and leave his hard life behind.

(jPS JOHN) Ages 5-8

Also: A Sweet Smell of Roses and Daddy Calls Me Man

Shades of Black: A Celebration of Our Children

by Sandra L. Pinkney. Photos by Myles C. Pinkney.

A sensitive photo study that celebrates the variety of skin tones, hair textures, and eye colors among African American children.

(jPS PINK) Ages 3-7

Superhero

by Marc Tauss.

Maleek saves his city parks with a little bit of science and a lot of imagination in this charming tale with black and white photos.

(jPS TAUS) Ages 4-8

Show Way

by Jacqueline Woodson. Illustrated by Hudson Talbott.

This lyrically-written autobiographical story relates the importance of quilting in Woodson’s family history.

(jPS WOOD) Ages 5-10

Also: The Other Side and Coming On Home Soon

Bud, Not Buddy

by Christopher Paul Curtis.

Guided by his own “Rules and Things for Having a Funner Life,” 10-year-old Bud treks through Michigan in 1936, searching for the father he’s never known.

(jF CURT) Ages 9-13

Also: The Watsons Go to Birmingham-1963 and Mr. Chickee’s Funny Money

I Thought My Soul Would Rise and Fly; The Diary of Patsy, A Freed Girl, Mars Bluff, South Carolina, 1865

by Joyce Hanson.

After gaining her freedom, a 12-year-old stays on the plantation to work for wages, but dreams of becoming a teacher. In the Dear America series.

(jF HANS) Ages 9-12

Also: One True Friend and Which Way Freedom?

Virgie Goes to School With Us Boys

by Elizabeth Fitzgerald Howard. Illustrated by E.B. Lewis.

In the Reconstruction South, a spirited girl finally convinces her parents to let her walk the seven miles to school with her brothers.

(jF HOWA) Ages 6-9

Heaven

by Angela Johnson.

The truth about 14-year-old Marley’s family comes out in a mysterious letter.

(jF JOHN) Ages 11+

Also: Toning the Sweep

Standing Against the Wind

by Traci L. Jones.

With her mother in prison, her aunt put out by her presence, and taunted by the local gang, Patrice longs to win a scholarship to a prestigious African-American boarding school.

(jF JONE) Ages 11+

Day of Tears: A Novel in Dialogue

by Julius Lester.

A slave auction is seen through the eyes of its many participants.

(jF LEST) Ages 11+

Freedom School, Yes!

by Amy Littlesugar. Illustrated by Floyd Cooper.

Young Jolie overcomes her fears and attends a summer Freedom School in Mississippi in 1964.

(jF LITT) Ages 6-9

Journey to the Bottomless Pit

by Elizabeth Mitchell.

Exciting story about Stephen Bishop who as a 17-year-old slave in the late 1830s led tours by candlelight and mapped out every detail of Mammoth Cave in Kentucky./

(jF MITC) Ages 9-12

Sienna's Scrapbook: Our African American Heritage Trip

by Toni Trent Parker. Illustrated by Janell Genovese.

Engaging journal of a girl’s family vacation visiting black historical sites along the east coast.

(jF PARK) Ages 8-11

All of the Above

by Shelley Pearsall. Illustrated by Javaka Steptoe.

Four inner-city kids join their “dead-end” middle school math club in an attempt to win a place in the Guinness Book of World Records. Based on an actual event.

(jF PEAR) Ages 9-13

Jackson Jones and the Curse of the Outlaw Rose

by Mary Quattlebaum.

The adventures of a boy whose mother has given him a plot in the community garden become thornier after he clips a rose from the local cemetery.

(jF QUAT) Ages 8-10

The Land

by Mildred D. Taylor.

The adventures of a boy whose mother has given him a plot in the community garden become thornier after he clips a rose from the local cemetery. In this prequel to Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, Paul Logan works many jobs in pursuit of his dream to own land in late 1860s Georgia.

(jF TAYL) Ages 12+

The People Could Fly: The Picture Book

by Virginia Hamilton. Illustrated by Leo and Diane Dillon.

Fully illustrated tale from the award-winning collection of American Black folktales of the same name.

(j398.2089 HAMI) Ages 6+

Also: Her Stories: African American Folktales, Fairy Tales and True Tales

(j398.2082 HAMI) and A Ring of Tricksters: Animal Tales from America, the West Indies, and Africa

(j398.2 HAMI)

Six Fools

by Zora Neale Hurston. Adapted by Joyce Carol Thomas. Illustrated by Ann Tanksley.

Humorous variant on “The Three Sillies,” in which a man travels the world to find three people as foolish as his fiancée and her parents.

(j398.2089 THOM) Ages 6-9

Also: Lies and Other Tall Tales (adapted/illustrated by Christopher Myers. j398.2097 MYER)

John Henry

by Julius Lester. Illustrated by Jerry Pinkney.

A modern retelling with realistic watercolor paintings brings new life to this tall tale hero.

(j398.21 LEST) Ages 5-9

Also: The Tales of Uncle Remus: The Adventures of Brer Rabbit

(j398 LEST)

Porch Lies: Tales of Slicksters, Tricksters, and Other Wily Characters

by Patricia McKissack. Illustrated by André

Nine humorous and scary tall tales inspired by the author’s childhood memories of family storytelling times.

(jF MCKI) Ages 9-12

Also: The Dark-Thirty: Southern Tales of the Supernatural

(jF MCKI) and Let My People Go: Bible Stories Told by a Freeman of Color

(jF MCKI)

Hewitt Anderson's Great Big Life

by Jerdine Nolen. Illustrated by Kadir Nelson.

A human-sized boy, born into a family of giants, must prove to his parents that he’s fine the way he is.

(jPS NOLE) Ages 5-8

Also: Big Jabe and Thunder Rose

Bronzeville Boys and Girls

by Gwendolyn Brooks. Illustrated by Faith Ringgold.

Children in a Chicago neighborhood are reintroduced in this newly illustrated collection of poems by a Pulitzer Prize-winning poet.

(j811.54 BROO) Ages 7-10

Let It Shine, Three Favorite Spirituals

by Ashley Bryan.

In his most recent collection of African American spirituals, Bryan uses brilliant cut-paper collages to interpret three well-known songs.

(j784.7 LET) Ages 3-8

I, Too, Sing America

by Catherine Clinton. Illustrated by Stephen Alcorn.

Three centuries of African American history are laid out in 36 poems by 25 poets.

(j811.008 I) Ages 9+

The Entrance Place of Wonders: Poems of the Harlem Renaissance

selected by Daphne Muse. Illustrated by Charlotte Riley-Webb.

Poems and brief biographies of the poets introduce this significant period of artistic achievement by African Americans.

(j811.5408 ENTR) Ages 8-11

Jazz

by Walter Dean Myers. Illustrated by Christopher Myers.

Here is a poetic father/son tribute to jazz, a companion to their Blues Journey.

(j811.54 MYER) Ages 8+

He's Got the Whole World in His Hands

by Kadir Nelson.

This well-known spiritual is beautifully illustrated with a San Francisco backdrop.

(jPS NELS) Ages 3-8

Nobody Gonna Turn Me ’Round: Stories and Songs of the Civil Rights Movement

by Doreen Rappaport. Illustrated by Shane W. Evans.

First person accounts, songs, and poems complement this chronicle of black history in America from 1955-1965.

(j323.1196 RAPP) Ages 3-8

Also: Free At Last!: Stories and Songs of Emancipation

(j973.0496 RAPP) and No More!: Stories and Songs of Slave Resistance

(j306.362 RAPP)

Langston Hughes

by David Roessel and Arnold Rampersad, editors. Illustrated by Benny Andrews.

Two Hughes scholars present 26 poems with brief notes as well as a biography of the noted poet.

(j811.54 HUGH) Ages 9+

Ellington Was Not a Street

by Ntozake Shange. Illustrated by Kadir Nelson.

As a young girl, the author met influential African Americans who came to her home, including Paul Robeson, W.E.B. DuBois and Dizzy Gillespie.

(j811.54 STAN) Ages 7-10

Freedom Walkers: The Story of the Montgomery Bus Boycott

by Russell Freedman.

Freedman clearly sets Rosa Park’s refusal to give up her seat to a white man in the context of the South and the times.

(j323.1196 FREE) Ages 9+

Romare Bearden: Collage of Memories

by Jan Greenberg.

The life of this 20th century artist as reflected in his art.

(j709.2 BEAR) Ages 7-10

For younger readers: Me and Uncle Romie

(jPS HART)

Powerful Words: More Than 200 Years of Extraordinary Writing by African Americans

by Wade Hudson. Illustrated by Sean Qualls.

Thurgood Marshall’s Supreme Court summary for Brown v Board of Education, Toni Morrison’s Nobel Prize acceptance speech, and Lauryn Hill’s hip-hop lyrics are included in the 34 selections.

(j081.0899 HUDS) Ages 10+

Drumbeat in Our Feet

by Patricia A. Keeler and Júlio T. Leitão. Illustrated by Patricia Keeler.

Colorful introduction to African dance traditions through the work of the Harlem, New York-based dance troupe Batoto Yetu.

(j793.3196 KEEL) Ages 5-10

The Great Migration: An American Story

by Jacob Lawrence.

A premier African American painter dramatically records the history of his people in art.

(j759.13 LAWR) Ages 9+

Let's Talk About Race

by Julius Lester. Illustrated by Karen Barbour.

In simple terms that children can understand, Lester explains how we are all the same under our skin.

(j305.8009 LEST) Ages 5-10

Also: From Slave Ship to Freedom Road

(j759.13 LEST)

Let It Shine: Stories of Black Women Freedom Fighters

by Andrea Davis Pinkney. Illustrated by Stephen Alcorn.

Mary McLeod Bethune and Shirley Chisholm are among those highlighted in 10 lively portraits that span African American history.

(j323.0923 PINK) Ages 9-13

This Is the Dream

by Diane Z. Shore and Jessica Alexander. Illustrated by James Ransome.

Both artwork and rhyming text make these examples of segregation understandable for younger children.

(j323.1196 SHOR) Ages 6-10

Biografía

Freedom Walkers: The Story of the Montgomery Bus Boycott: by Russell Freedman.

Freedman clearly sets Rosa Park’s refusal to give up her seat to a white man in the context of the South and the times.

(j323.1196 FREE) Ages 9+
Through My Eyes: by Ruby Bridges.

This autobiography recalls the story of one 6-year-old girl who integrated her neighborhood’s all-white school in 1960.

(jB BRID) Ages 9+
5,000 Miles to Freedom: Ellen and William Craft’s Flight From Slavery: by Judith Bloom Fradin and Dennis Brindell Fradin.

An exciting chronicle of the escape of a married slave couple from the deep South to Boston, then to England.

(jB CRAF) Ages 10+
The Voice That Challenged a Nation: Marian Anderson and the Struggle For Equal Rights: by Russell Freedman.

Handsome photo biography of the renowned singer and her historic 1939 concert at the Lincoln Memorial.

(jB ANDE) Ages 9+
Rosa: by Nikki Giovanni. Illustrated by Bryan Collier.

Poetic picture book account that presents both a personal and political view of this remarkable woman.

(jB PARK) Ages 5-8
Delivering Justice: W.W. Law and the Fight for Civil Rights: by Jim Haskins. Illustrated by Benny Andrews.

A mail carrier from Savannah, Georgia, Law organized non-violent protests against segregation and worked for better communication between blacks and whites.

(jB LAW) Ages 6-9+
Malcolm X: A Fire Burning Brightly: by Walter Dean Myers. Illustrated by Leonard Jenkins.

Malcolm X’s own words are used to present the often controversial ideas put forth by this crusader for black self-determination.

(jB X) Ages 8-11
Martin’s Big Words: The Life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.: by Doreen Rappaport.

Introduction to King’s life and words, with a chronology and breathtaking collage illustrations.

(jB KING) Ages 5-9
Promises to Keep: How Jackie Robinson Changed America: by Sharon Robinson.

The daughter of the first African American to play major league baseball tells his life story.

(jB ROBI) Ages 9-12
Only Passing Through: The Story of Sojourner Truth: by Anne F. Rockwell. Illustrated by R. Gregory Christie.

Picture book glimpse at the life of the freed slave who became a passionate abolitionist.

(jB TRUT) Ages 7-10
Moses: When Harriet Tubman Led Her People to Freedom: by Carole Boston Weatherford. Illustrated by Kadir Nelson. Jump at the Sun/Hyperion, 2006.

Luminous illustrations highlight this account of Tubman’s initial escape from slavery and the faith that sustained her.

(jB TUBM) Ages 5-9

¡Cómo Brilla! la Experiencia Africano-Americana

Libros Juveniles sobre la Experiencia Africano-Americana

Libros con Ilustraciones

Ficción

Tradición Oral: Cuentos Populares y Más

Poesía y Canciones

Libros Informativos

Biografía