8 picture books to help kids honor black history
These new offerings are a novel way to learn serious histories and some simply sweet stories.
Hey Black Child
by Useni Eugene Perkins; illustrated by Bryan Collier (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, 40 pp., ages 4-8)
The story: The words of Useni Eugene Perkins’ 1975 poem are simple and powerful (“Hey Black Child, Do you know you are strong, I mean really strong”) and award-winning illustrator Bryan Collier accompanies them with aspirational images — including one reminding future voters that they too can be president. What kids will like: Black History Month is all about instilling pride and the idea that “you can do it,” and this gorgeous book with a straightforward message accomplishes both missions with ease and flair.
Mae Among the Stars
by Roda Ahmed, illustrated by Stasia Burrington (HarperCollins, 40 pp., ages 4-8)
The story: Talk about Hidden Figures! Little Mae decides she wants “to see Earth” when she grows up — and her supportive parents encourage her desire to be an astronaut even when her teacher pooh-poohs the idea.
What kids will like: Some dreams do come true. “Little Mae,” readers learn, grows up to be Mae Jemison, the first female African-American astronaut, who traveled to space aboard the shuttle Endeavour in 1992.
Little Leaders: Bold Women in Black History
by Vashti Harrison (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, 87 pp., ages 8-12)
The story: From 18th century poet Phillis Wheatley to 21st century powerhouse Oprah Winfrey, these 40 accomplished “Little Leaders” loom large in history.
What kids will like: Vashti Harrison’s kid-friendly portraits of inspirational women are charming, and sophisticated readers will be drawn in by the full-page bio for each one.
Princess Hair
by Sharee Miller (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, 32 pp., ages 4-8 ) The story: Through cute rhymes (“Princesses with kinks love to think! ...
and princesses with frohawks rock!”), Sharee Miller celebrates diverse hair styles and textures, from girls wearing dreadlocks to “teeny-weeny afros.”
What kids will like: This exuberant, colorful collection of words and pictures is a stylish pick-me-up for any little princess who’s ever had a bad hair day.
The United States v. Jackie Robinson
by Sudipta Bardhan-Quallen; illustrated by R. Gregory Christie (Balzer + Bray, 40 pp., ages 4 to 8)
The story: Before he broke the color barrier in baseball, Lt. Jack Robinson stood up for himself in the 1940s by refusing to move to the back of an Army bus at Fort Hood, Texas — and was court-martialed. What kids will like: This eye-opening story has not one but two happy endings — Jack is declared “not guilty,” and a few pages later “Jackie” is swinging for the fences at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn.
That Is My Dream!
by Langston Hughes, illustrated by Daniel
Miyares (Schwartz & Wade, all ages, 32 pp.)
The story: In this version of Langston Hughes’ soaring Dream Variation poem (also known as Dream Variations) from 1926, a black boy in the segregated South endures prejudice — and dreams of equality.
What kids will like: Daniel Miyares’ touching interpretation teaches history in a subtle way: Paintings of the boy at the back of a bus and at a “Colored Only” water fountain give way to hopeful, lyrical images of evening (“Night coming tenderly … Black Like Me”).
Before She Was Harriet
by Lesa Cline-Ransome, illustrated by James E. Ransome (Holiday House, 32 pp., ages 4-7)
The story: Depicts the heroism of Harriet Tubman and her achievements: escaped slave, abolitionist who helped others find freedom via the Underground Railroad, Union spy, suffragist. What kids will like: James E. Ransome’s cinematic paint- ings do justice to Tubman’s dramatic life story, and the text cleverly explains how Harriet, born Araminta, got her famous name. (Curious readers spurred to learn more will discover that the Trump administration is reconsidering the Obama initiative to put Tubman on the $20 bill.)
Let the Children March
by Monica Clark-Robinson, illustrated by Frank Morrison (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 40 pp, ages 6-9)
The story: In May 1963 in Birmingham, Ala., after Martin Luther King Jr. exhorts black parishioners to protest Jim Crow laws, children march in place of parents who fear they will lose their jobs.
What kids will like: It’s not every day that kids get to be heroes, but the young narrator of this true story and her friends braved police brutality and jail to fight for civil rights. “Our march made the difference. We children led the way.”