FROM SARAH:

This is a moving, lyrical picture book biography that takes us behind the making of The Snowy Day. Through Andrea Davis Pinkney's poetic writing, we learn about Ezra Jack Keats, the creator of The Snowy Day, and how Peter came to be, inspiring readers and children's book creators for generations. Longer form and best for older kids and teens, this is a picture book you can't grow too old for!

FROM THE PUBLISHER:

The story of The Snowy Day begins more than one hundred years ago, when Ezra Jack Keats was born in Brooklyn, N.Y. The family were struggling Polish immigrants, and despite Keats’s obvious talent, his father worried that Ezra’s dream of being an artist was an unrealistic one. But Ezra was determined. By high school he was winning prizes and scholarships. Later, jobs followed with the WPA and Marvel comics. But it was many years before Keats’s greatest dream was realized and he had the opportunity to write and illustrate his own book.

For more than two decades, Ezra had kept pinned to his wall a series of photographs of an adorable African American child. In Keats’s hands, the boy morphed into Peter, a boy in a red snowsuit, out enjoying the pristine snow; the book became The Snowy Day, winner of the Caldecott Medal, the first mainstream book to feature an African American child. It was also the first of many books featuring Peter and the children of his — and Keats’s — neighborhood.

Andrea Davis Pinkney’s lyrical narrative tells the inspiring story of a boy who pursued a dream, and who, in turn, inspired generations of other dreamers.

FROM THE PUBLISHER:

Life in Amira's peaceful Sudanese village is shattered when Janjaweed attackers arrive, unleashing unspeakable horrors. After losing nearly everything, Amira needs to find the strength to make the long journey on foot to safety at a refugee camp. She begins to lose hope, until the gift of a simple red pencil opens her mind -- and all kinds of possibilities.

FROM THE PUBLISHER:

Andrea Davis Pinkney uses poetic, powerful prose to tell the story of these four young men, who followed Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s words of peaceful protest and dared to sit at the "whites only" Woolworth's lunch counter.

FROM THE PUBLISHER:

Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a bus and sparked a boycott that changed America. Harriet Tubman helped more than three hundred slaves escape the South on the Underground Railroad. Shirley Chisholm became the first black woman elected to the U.S. House of Representatives.
The lives these women led are part of an incredible story about courage in the face of oppression; about the challenges and triumphs of the battle for civil rights; and about speaking out for what you believe in--even when it feels like no one is listening.

FROM THE PUBLISHER:

Another stunning picture book biography of a prominent twentieth-century African-American in the arts, from the creative team behind Alvin Ailey.

**Description from Amazon: In a small upstate New York town during the Great Depression, three children--Hibernia, Willie, and Otis--are about to meet.Hibernia dreams of becoming a famous singer and performing at Harlem's swanky Savoy Ballroom.Willie is recovering from a tragedy that prevents him from becoming a junior boxing...

FROM THE PUBLISHER:

Reenie and her mama love to go fishing down by the river. But the peace of their idyllic fishing spot is often marred by the appearance of Peter Troop and his daddy. Peter is up-jumpy and loud, scaring the fish away. And the Troops harbor some resentment toward them, too.

FROM THE PUBLISHER:

Berry Gordy began Motown in 1959 with an $800 loan from his family. He converted the garage of a residential house into a studio and recruited teenagers from the neighborhood-like Smokey Robinson, Mary Wells, Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, and Diana Ross-to sing for his new label. Meanwhile, the country was on the brink of a cultural revolution.

FROM THE PUBLISHER:

HAND IN HAND presents the stories of ten men from different eras in American history, organized chronologically to provide a scope from slavery to the modern day.

FROM THE PUBLISHER:

Help boil the greens, flip the fish, and slice the pie for a mouth-watering family meal in I Smell Honey, then join the fun as a baby boy discovers the unique features that make his face so special in Pretty Brown Face. In Shake Shake Shake and Watch Me Dance, explore the joys of rhythm and movement. These spirited board books celebrate the loving closeness of an African American family.

FROM THE PUBLISHER:

Help boil the greens, flip the fish, and slice the pie for a mouth-watering family meal in I Smell Honey, then join the fun as a baby boy discovers the unique features that make his face so special in Pretty Brown Face. In Shake Shake Shake and Watch Me Dance, explore the joys of rhythm and movement. These spirited board books celebrate the loving closeness of an African American family.

NARRATED BY: Channie Waites, BEST FOR AGES: 8+

FROM THE PUBLISHER:

Ella Fitzgerald began her life as a singer on the stage of the Apollo Theater when she was just seventeen years old. Her rich voice and vocal innovations brought her fame and a remarkable career than spanned half a century and won her generations of fans around the world.

FROM SARAH:

An homage to Martin Luther King, this picture book is longer than most and best for older kids. Gorgeous.

FROM THE PUBLISHER:

In a rich embroidery of visions, musical cadence, and deep emotion, Andrea and Brian Pinkney convey the final months of Martin Luther King's life--and of his assassination--through metaphor, spirituality, and multilayers of meaning.

FROM SARAH:

When Andrea Davis Pinkney and Brian Pinkney pair up, I always pay attention. This is an especially good book to read with older kids.

FROM THE PUBLISHER:

On August 28, 1963, Martin Luther King, Jr. gave his famous "I Have a Dream" speech from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, and his strong voice and powerful message were joined and lifted in song by world-renowned gospel singer Mahalia Jackson.

**Description from Amazon: Twelve-year-old Dawnie Rae Johnson's life turns upside down after the Supreme Court rules in favor of desegregation in the landmark case Brown v. Board of Education. Her parents decide that Dawnie will attend Prettyman Coburn, a previously all-white school -- but she'll be the only one of her friends to enroll in this new school.

**Description from Amazon: From a bestselling and award-winning husband and wife team comes an innovative, beautifully illustrated novel that delivers a front-row seat to the groundbreaking moments in history that led to African Americans earning the right to vote.