jenbrdsly Posted September 22, 2012 Share Posted September 22, 2012 Please help me create a list of your favorite books for children authored by African Americans. I have a DD3 and a DS7, so both picture book and chapter book suggestions are welcome. Thank you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taz007 Posted September 22, 2012 Share Posted September 22, 2012 I LOVE this book by Kareem Abdul Jabar: http://www.amazon.com/What-Color-World-African-American-Inventors/dp/0763645648/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1348347314&sr=8-1&keywords=kareem+abdul+jabbar+books I will be back with more later. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenbrdsly Posted September 22, 2012 Author Share Posted September 22, 2012 I LOVE this book by Kareem Abdul Jabar: http://www.amazon.com/What-Color-World-African-American-Inventors/dp/0763645648/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1348347314&sr=8-1&keywords=kareem+abdul+jabbar+books I will be back with more later. Wow! I haven't seen that one before, but I bet my son will love it. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samba Posted September 22, 2012 Share Posted September 22, 2012 The Jamaica series by Juanita Havill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farrar Posted September 22, 2012 Share Posted September 22, 2012 I really like everything by Kadir Nelson. I also love Vera B. Williams - A Chair for my Mother is such a classic. Donald Crews is African American and his books are wonderful - both ones with black themes and characters and without. Oh, and John Steptoe. And I really like Carole Weatherford... There are more... there's someone I'm totally forgetting... Do you want chapter books too? And how do you feel about books like The Snowy Day, which is a great book with an African American character, but the author is not black. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mommaof5 Posted September 22, 2012 Share Posted September 22, 2012 (edited) Excellent books for various ages we have enjoyed include: -- Henry's Freedom Box -- Books about Ruby Bridges -- Moses: When Harriet Tubman Led Her People to Freedom -- Martin's Big Words -- Of Thee I Sing, A Letter to My Daughters by Barack Obama -- Bud Not Buddy, The Watsons Go to Birmingham, Elijah of Buxton, The Mighty Miss Malone and other books by Christopher Paul Curtis (Christopher Paul Curtis books are good for about 2nd/3rd grade and up) -- Narrative of The Life of Fredrick (great as an audio book too, about middle school age and up) -- I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou (older child or adult) -- Poems by Langston Hughes, -- Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neal Hursten (older child or adult) -- A Raisin In The Sun -- books by Richard Wright (heavy topics, better for high school or above) Sorry for the wide age range, we have kids from ages 6 to 12... Edited September 22, 2012 by Mommaof5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Walking-Iris Posted September 22, 2012 Share Posted September 22, 2012 For that age range --what we have enjoyed: The Sweet and Sour Animal Book by Langston Hughes (It's an ABC book that features artwork by children from the Harlem School of the Arts. There's photos of the children in the back and a little bit about the school.) Any of his poetry is great for little kids. Also the books by Jerry Pinkney are beautiful. His artwork is gorgeous. He did some fairy tale adaptations. The Ugly Duckling is lovely. We also like the folk tales of Julius Lester. How Many Spots Does a Leopard Have is one of my oldest ds' favorite books. He also adapted quite a few Uncle Remus tales and his John Henry is the only one we have ever read. The People Could Fly by Virginia Hamilton--more African folktales. (Just realized how many African folktales we read....) Coretta Scott King has a beautiful Martin Luther King Jr book that we read each year. We also like Duke Ellington by Brian Pinkney. Toni Morrison wrote a cute little book (mostly for preschoolers) called Peeny Butter Fudge. Vera B Williams More More More Said the Baby and the Crews books Freight Train and Truck (for really little ones--we have those as board books). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murmer Posted September 22, 2012 Share Posted September 22, 2012 Corduroy! Also the amazing grace series. The people could fly is a compilation that my kids enjoyed. Christopher Paul Curtis! Mildred Taylor (roll of thunder hear my cry). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenbrdsly Posted September 23, 2012 Author Share Posted September 23, 2012 Awesome! These are some great suggestions. Farrar, I was thinking about the topic of books about African American children written by white people, and my brain got a bit confused. It's sort of like the question of how to classify "The Good Earth" by Pearl Buck. Right now we are reading the Newbery Honor book "Phillip Hall Likes me I Reckon Maybe", and the author is white. It was written in the 1970s. I wonder what the present day Newbery Award committee would think of a white author writing about an African American character who speaks in dialect... See? That's how my brain got muddled. Then there are also the "Stories that Julian Tells" books by Ann Cameron, which are fabulous. But I don't think those count as African American Literature for children either, because Ann Cameron is white. What do the rest of you think? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farrar Posted September 23, 2012 Share Posted September 23, 2012 Yeah, I'm not sure. I think it's a touchy subject, but the Peter books by Ezra Jack Keats or the Julian stories by Ann Cameron are both wonderful children's literature that broke new ground in both cases. And there are books by white authors writing about non-white characters today still, in a sensitive way. For chapter books, a few authors off the top of my head: Christopher Paul Curtis Rita Williams-Garcia Jacqueline Woodson (she also has some picture book titles) Walter Dean Myers Mildred Taylor Sharon Draper Nancy Farmer Most of those authors are better for older elementary though... There must be something for younger middle grades books for read alouds... That can't possibly be a hole. There are chapter book series though... Oh, what is it that I'm thinking of...? Drat. You might be interested in the Coretta Scott King award winners list: http://www.ala.org/emiert/coretta-scott-king-book-awards-all-recipients-1970-present Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenbrdsly Posted September 23, 2012 Author Share Posted September 23, 2012 I LOVE Mildred Taylor, but I think she's still too intense for my seven year old at the moment. We read "The Watsons Go to Birmingham by Christopher Paul Curtis and I had to edit a few things out. That's a whole other set of issues with some of the books is that since the reality was so awful, how can you be realistic and still be kid appropriate? You guys have helped me get a good start going. Here's what I have so far. Thank you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farrar Posted September 23, 2012 Share Posted September 23, 2012 Yeah, we haven't read aloud any of those chapter book authors I listed yet - except for some picture book things. My kids did hear Rita Williams-Garcia speak at the National Book Festival last year and really enjoyed her. If we had made it to the 60's, we probably would have read One Crazy Summer and The Watsons Go to Birmingham. But we didn't. A lot of those chapter book authors write about the more recent past and we haven't gotten there yet for history, so we've stuck with reading historical fiction from longer ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nova mama Posted September 23, 2012 Share Posted September 23, 2012 Anna McQuinn writes sweet picture books. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GVD22 Posted September 23, 2012 Share Posted September 23, 2012 Great thread, OP!:) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NASDAQ Posted September 23, 2012 Share Posted September 23, 2012 I loved The People Who Could Fly at that age. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
serendipitous journey Posted September 23, 2012 Share Posted September 23, 2012 books authored or illustrated him are wonderful, I think. John Henry and The Talking Eggs are two I really love that feature African American characters -- John Henry is just one of my favorites -- and his Johnny Appleseed is also lovely. Langston Hughes, featured in Poetry for Young People here, is another one I love. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiana Posted September 23, 2012 Share Posted September 23, 2012 The people could fly is wonderful, but what made our version really special is that we had an audiobook of selections thereof narrated mostly by James Earl Jones. He was FANTASTIC. We still quote his narrations frequently. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenbrdsly Posted September 23, 2012 Author Share Posted September 23, 2012 The people could fly is wonderful, but what made our version really special is that we had an audiobook of selections thereof narrated mostly by James Earl Jones. He was FANTASTIC. We still quote his narrations frequently. Oooooooh! I bet that would be good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenbrdsly Posted September 24, 2012 Author Share Posted September 24, 2012 Sorry to bump my own thread, but I just came back from the library. Amazing Grace by Mary Hoffman is written and illustrated by two white women from England. Interesting... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farrar Posted September 24, 2012 Share Posted September 24, 2012 The People Could Fly also has a really awesome companion nonfiction book. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alisoncooks Posted September 24, 2012 Share Posted September 24, 2012 My daughter's liked Something Beautiful by Sharon Dennis Wyeth. I have no idea of the author's ethnicity. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kubiac Posted September 25, 2012 Share Posted September 25, 2012 (edited) * This is for later on, but I just finished Ben Carson's autobiography Gifted Hands (as recommended by Jim Trelease et al) and it was awesome. Very inspirational and quite a fast, easy read. It's on school reading lists for junior high, but it could easily be a read-aloud for late elementary school or an audiobook. His story of personal transformation and self-educational is quite inspirational--it reminded me of a cleaner, less radical, more medical Autobiography of Malcolm X. * You could also look up the two Uncle Remus collaborations from Julius Lester and Jerry Pinkney. Edited September 25, 2012 by kubiac Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stripe Posted September 25, 2012 Share Posted September 25, 2012 (edited) And how do you feel about books like The Snowy Day, which is a great book with an African American character, but the author is not black. I love Ezra Jack Keats for the racially mixed neighborhoods and urban environment. I love "Louie"! I am a fan of Kadir Nelson, too, and even more so, anything illustrated by E. B. Lewis. Daniel Crews has some neat stuff. I especially like the family tone of Bigmama's. I think Flossie and the Fox is about the cutest "Little Red Riding Hood" type story I've ever seen (by Patricia McKissack). I have a lot of picture books about mixed families. I'd have to go look to remember more authors, but I like Toyomi Igus. My son really liked Christopher Paul Curtis's Mr Chickee books. Not sure how appropriate they are, though, or if the characters are black. Nancy Farmer is white, btw. Edited September 25, 2012 by stripe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farrar Posted September 25, 2012 Share Posted September 25, 2012 Nancy Farmer is white, btw. See, I had no idea. And Jen originally had Mary Hoffman on her list, who, as she pointed out, is also white. I mostly wondered if Jen was trying to make a list of books about African-American characters or if she wanted specifically African-American authors. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farrar Posted September 25, 2012 Share Posted September 25, 2012 Speaking of multi-cultural books, we saw Patricia Polacco speak at the National Book Festival last weekend and she was amazing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenbrdsly Posted September 25, 2012 Author Share Posted September 25, 2012 See, I had no idea. And Jen originally had Mary Hoffman on her list, who, as she pointed out, is also white. I mostly wondered if Jen was trying to make a list of books about African-American characters or if she wanted specifically African-American authors. I'm wondering this myself Farrar! Of course, I often wonder what the heck I am doing, so this is nothing new. :tongue_smilie: But I think I want it to really be by African American authors. The more I consider this though, the more I realize the paucity of children’s books by African American authors out there. Is this just at my library? If you look at some of the books on my list they are children’s books by "famous people" like President Obama, Toni Morrison, Will Smith etc. I didn't do that by design, it just turned out that way. These are the books that my library has. I'm really having trouble finding more books by African Americans. It's almost a game with me now when I'm at the library. I look at the author pictures on the book jackets, and it seems like most of them are white. I don't know what this means. :001_huh: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stripe Posted September 25, 2012 Share Posted September 25, 2012 (edited) I have looked on my shelf for a few nice books...but I did find this list of African American authors http://dpi.wi.gov/rll/wrlbph/ya_a_a.html And you can look in a database like Something About the Author and sort by ethnicity, I think. No, never mind. It doesn't. I tried searching for african american as a keyword, but there are false hits. I think most of the books on this list have been covered http://www.library.illinois.edu/blog/esslchildlit/archives/2008/02/african_america.html This has some different ones, worth looking at http://thebrownbookshelf.com/ Angela Johnson's When I am Old With You is a sweet book. She is African American. Nikki Giovanni is African American. Some of the black authors are not African American, though, but African immigrants. Such as Tololwa Mollel or Baba Wague Diakite. Or they mostly write books set in African countries. Or they are non-fiction. Rachel Isadora has some nice books set in South Africa, as well as black characters who could be African American; she is white. Niki Daly's Jamela books (and Not So Fast Songololo) or Stuve-Bodeen's Elizabeti books are sweet but not by African American authors or about AA kids! By the way, Ken Wlson-Max has written or illustrated quite a few books with cute, roundy, cartoony type black kids. He was born in Zimbabwe and lives in the UK. ;) Edited September 25, 2012 by stripe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farrar Posted September 25, 2012 Share Posted September 25, 2012 It's not just your library. :( Though yours might be worse than some others? I saw Carole Weatherford, who writes poetic, beautiful picture books, speak about diversity in children's books once - she talked, IIRC, about having to find smaller publishing houses, even now after she's won big awards. Sigh. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stripe Posted September 25, 2012 Share Posted September 25, 2012 Lee and Low Books emphasizes diversity. http://www.leeandlow.com/ Their African/AA books are http://www.leeandlow.com/search/?subject=822 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenbrdsly Posted October 5, 2012 Author Share Posted October 5, 2012 Just to follow up, The People Who Could Fly is soooooooo amazing. Thank you for the recommendation! Chills. I get chills reading it. Wow! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
corduroy Posted October 5, 2012 Share Posted October 5, 2012 Great thread. I'm always on the hunt for books with more diversity. I recently picked up a copy of Thunder Rose by Jerdine Nolen (ill. by Kadir Nelson), a tall tale about the first free-born baby in a Black family. Nelson's illustrations of Rose are terrific, full of her personality. And what kid doesn't like tall tales? Jerdine Nolen is African American, and her back catalog may be worth checking out for more titles: a lot of the books seem to feature children of color. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BFamily Posted October 5, 2012 Share Posted October 5, 2012 Both of my older boys really enjoyed reading Eloise Greenfield's works several years ago; they were probably in the 5-7 years age range. They especially liked her poetry from the Honey, I Love book. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JennyD Posted October 5, 2012 Share Posted October 5, 2012 These books are about Africans, not African-Americans, but we have all really enjoyed Niki Daly's "Jamela" picture book series. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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