Black History Month, Librarians, And More!

This is such a fantastic picture book biography of politician and Civil Rights activist John Lewis. Lewis grew up in a loving and large family in Alabama. When he went to a nearby town with his father, he saw how the town was divided by race. When he heard Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. speak on the radio, he decided he wanted to become an activist. He left his home and came to Nashville for college, and joined the Nashville chapter of the NAACP. The picture book depicts how he and his fellow members of the NAACP practiced nonviolent protest, marched with the Freedom Fighters, and ends with the march he led in Selma, Alabama. It’s impossible not to tear up at the end.

This picture book biography releases Tuesday and tells the story of Eunice W. Johnson, the co-founder of EBONY magazine and the founder of the EBONY fashion show. Johnson grew up in Selma, Alabama, and loved to sew clothes for her dolls and her friends’ dolls. She studied social work in college, where she met and fell in love with John H. Johnson. After they married, the two conceived of the idea of an all-Black magazine celebrating Black achievements. EBONY was born, and Eunice’s eye for design and style helped the magazine’s growth. In 1958, she founded and directed the EBONY fair as part of a hospital fundraiser that went on to become a worldwide tour showcasing Black fashion with Black models. I read this with my kindergartner, and she so enjoyed it! It’s a great conversation starter about Civil Rights, fashion, and Black success.

This is a gorgeously illustrated picture book adaptation of Coretta Scott King’s memoir for adults. It opens with her childhood, also in Alabama, and her experiences in high school and college. She describes the racism she experienced and how she became vocal about discrimination in the university system. She was working at the New England Conservatory when she met and began dating Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The picture book biography continues with their marriage, birth of children, acts of protest during the Civil Rights Movement, and her speaking after Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination. Back matter includes the six principles of nonviolence and a Civil Rights timeline.

This is a different kind of Black history picture book, which recently won a Coretta Scott King Award. Originally a folksong written by Rhiannon Giddens for her album Freedom Highway (which is wonderful), this picture book illustrates the song. Giddens was inspired by Virginia Hamilton’s retelling of the folktale “The People Could Fly,” which she cherished as a child. The illustrations show a mother and daughter speaking about Granny Liza and how she could fly. It’s a lyrical and luminously illustrated picture book, great to read along with Hamilton’s classic folktale and to read while listening to the song.