Bibliography of African American Children’s Books at CNR Gill Library
Adler, David A., and Bill Farnsworth. Heroes for Civil Rights, Holiday House, New York, 2008.
Whether marching, speaking, or simply going to school, brave men and women fought to
advance social justice so that others could enjoy their rights. Adler's moving profiles and Farnsworth's
evocative paintings honors these Americans who risked their own lives for freedom.
Adler, David A. Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad, Holiday House, New York, 2013.
Arzu-Brown, Sulma, and Isidra Sabio. Bad Hair does Not Exist!, Afro-Latin Publishing, Inc., United States;
4, 2014; 2014.
Bambara, Toni C. Tales and Stories for Black Folks, Zenith Books, Garden City, N.Y., 1971.
"Walk Together Children; Black American Spirituals." , directed by Ashley Bryan. , Atheneum, , 1974
A collection of familiar and lesser-known spirituals including "Walk Together Children," "Little
David Play on Your Harp," " I Got Shoes," and others.
Coles, Robert, and George C. Ford. The Story of Ruby Bridges, Scholastic, New York, 1995.
For months six-year-old Ruby Bridges must confront the hostility of white parents when she
becomes the first African American girl to integrate Frantz Elementary School in New Orleans in 1960.
Cox, Clinton. African American Healers, Wiley, New York, 2000.
Profiles over thirty notable African Americans in the health field, including Civil War nurse Susie
King Taylor, Dr. Charles Drew, father of the blood bank, and young pioneering surgeon Ben Carson.
Feelings, Tom, and Maya Angelou. Soul Looks Back in Wonder, Dial Books, New York, 1993.
Artwork and poems by such writers as Maya Angelou, Langston Hughes, and Askia Toure portray
the creativity, strength, and beauty of their African American heritage.
Freedman, Russell. The Voice that Challenged a Nation : Marian Anderson and the Struggle for Equal
Rights, Clarion Books, New York, 2004.
In the mid-1930s, Marian Anderson was a famed vocalist who had been applauded by European
royalty and welcomed at the White House. But, because of her race, she was denied the right to sing at
Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C. This is the story of her resulting involvement in the civil rights
movement of the time. "A voice like yours," celebrated conductor Arturo Toscanini told contralto
Marian Anderson, "is heard once in a hundred years." This insightful account of the great African
American vocalist considers her life and musical career in the context of the history of civil rights in this
country. Drawing on Anderson's own writings and other contemporary accounts, Russell Freedman
shows readers a singer pursuing her art despite the social constraints that limited the careers of black
performers in the 1920s and 1930s. Though not a crusader or a spokesperson by nature, Marian
Anderson came to stand for all black artists-and for all Americans of color-when, with the help of such
prominent figures as Eleanor Roosevelt, she gave her landmark 1939 performance on the steps of the
Lincoln Memorial, which signaled the end of segregation in the arts.Carefully researched, expertly told,
and profusely illustrated with contemporary photographs, here is a moving account of the life of a
talented and determined artist who left her mark on musical and social history. Through her story, one
of today's leading authors of nonfiction for young readers illuminates the social and political climate of
the day and an important chapter in American history. Notes, bibliography, discography, index.
Giovanni, Nikki, and Bryan Collier. Rosa, Henry Holt, New York, 2005.
The story of Rosa Parks and her courageous act of defiance. Provides the story of the young
black woman who refused to give up her seat to a white passenger in Alabama, setting in motion all the
events of the Civil Rights Movements that resulted in the end of the segregated south, gave equality to
blacks throughout the nation, and forever changed the country in which we all live today. She had not
sought this moment but she was ready for it. When the policeman bent down to ask "Auntie, are you
going to move?" all the strength of all the people through all those many years joined in her. She said,
"No." An inspiring account of an event that shaped American history. Fifty years after her refusal to give
up her seat on a Montgomery, Alabama, city bus, Mrs. Rosa Parks is still one of the most important
figures in the American civil rights movement. This picture-book tribute to Mrs. Parks is a celebration of
her courageous action and the events that followed. Award-winning poet, writer, and activist Nikki
Giovanni's evocative text combines with Bryan Collier's striking cut-paper images to retell the story of
this historic event from a wholly unique and original perspective.
Hamilton, Virginia, Leo Dillon, and Diane Dillon. Her Stories : African American Folktales, Fairy Tales, and
True Tales, Blue Sky Press, New York, 1995.
---. . The People could Fly : American Black Folktales, Knopf, New York, 1985.
Retold Afro-American folktales of animals, fantasy, the supernatural, and desire for freedom,
born of the sorrow of the slaves, but passed on in hope.
Hopson, Darlene P., Derek S. Hopson, and Thomas Clavin. Juba this and Juba that : 100 AfricanAmerican Games for Children, Simon & Schuster, New York, 1996.
Hughes, Langston, and Bryan Collier. I, Too, Am America, Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers,
New York, 2012; 1994.
Presents the popular poem by one of the central figures in the Harlem Renaissance, highlighting
the courage and dignity of the African American Pullman porters in the early twentieth century.
Hughes, Langston, and Charles R. Smith. My People, Atheneum Books for Young Readers/ginee seo
books, New York, 2009.
Hughes's spare yet eloquent tribute to his people has been cherished for generations. Now,
acclaimed photographer Smith interprets this beloved poem in vivid sepia photographs that capture the
glory, the beauty, and the soul of being a black American today.
Johnson, Angela. Heaven, Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, New York, 1998.
Fourteen-year-old Marley's seemingly perfect life in the small town of Heaven is disrupted when
she discovers that her father and mother are not her real parents.
Johnson, James W., and Jan S. Gilchrist. Lift Ev'Ry Voice and Sing, Scholastic, New York, 1995.
An illustrated version of the song that has come to be considered the African American national
anthem. Lester, Julius, and Jerry , Dial Books, New York, 1994.
Retells the life of the legendary African American hero who raced against a steam drill to cut
through a mountain.
Liddell, Janice, and Linda Nickens. Imani and the Flying Africans, Africa World Press, Trenton, N.J., 1994.
On the trip from Detroit to Savannah to see his grandparents and great-grandmother for the
first time, an African-American boy hears the story about an amazing event witnessed by his great-greatgrandmother when she was a slave.
McKissack, Pat, and J. B. Pinkney. The Dark-Thirty : Southern Tales of the Supernatural, Knopf, New York,
1992.
A collection of ghost stories with African American themes, designed to be told during the Dark
Thirty--the half hour before sunset--when ghosts seem all too believable.
McKissack, Pat, and Jerry Pinkney. Goin' Someplace Special, Atheneum Books for Young Readers, New
York, 2001.
In segregated 1950s Nashville, a young African American girl braves a series of indignities and
obstacles to get to one of the few integrated places in town: the public library.
Meltzer, Brad, and Chris Eliopoulos. I Am Rosa Parks, Dial Books for Young Readers, an imprint of
Penguin Group USA LLC, New York, 2014.
Recounts Rosa Parks' daring effort to stand up for herself and other African Americans by
helping to end segregation on public transportation.
Musgrove, Margaret, Leo Dillon, and Diane Dillon. Ashanti to Zulu :African Traditions, Dial Press, New
York, 1976.
Explains some traditions and customs of 26 African tribes beginning with letters from A to Z.
Nelson, Kadir. Heart and Soul : The Story of America and African Americans, Balzer + Bray, New York,
2011.
A simple introduction to African-American history, from Revolutionary-era slavery up to the
election of President Obama. Includes a timeline.
---. . We are the Ship : The Story of Negro League Baseball, Jump at the Sun/Hyperion Books for
Children, New York, 2008.
Using an "Everyman" player as his narrator, Kadir Nelson tells the story of Negro League baseball
from its beginnings in the 1920s through the decline after Jackie Robinson crossed over to the majors in
1947. Illustrations from oil paintings by artist Kadir Nelson.
Nelson, Marilyn. Carver, a Life in Poems, Front Street, Asheville, N.C., 2001.
Obama, Barak. Of Thee I Sing. Alfred A. Knopf; New York, 2010
Pinkney, Jerry, and Aesop. The Lion & the Mouse, Little, Brown and Co. Books for Young Readers, New
York, 2009.
In this wordless retelling of an Aesop fable set in the African Serengeti, an adventuresome
mouse proves that even a small creature is capable of great deeds when she rescues the King of the
Jungle.
Shange, Ntozake, and Kadir Nelson. Ellington was Not a Street, Simon & Schuster Books for Young
Readers, New York, 2004.
Steptoe, Javaka. In Daddy's Arms I Am Tall : African Americans Celebrating Fathers, Lee & Low Books,
New York, 1997.
A collection of poems celebrating African-American fathers.
Sullivan, Charles. Children of Promise : African-American Literature and Art for Young People, Harry N.
Abrams, New York, 1991.
Poems, prose, photographs, and paintings explore the African-American experience as seen
through art and literature by blacks or about black subjects.
Thomas, Joyce C., and Floyd Cooper. The Blacker the Berry : Poems, HarperCollins, New York, 2008.
A collection of poems, including "Golden Goodness," "Cranberry Red," and "Biscuit Brown,"
celebrating individuality and Afro-American identity.
Towle, Wendy, and Wil Clay. The Real McCoy : The Life of an African-American Inventor, Scholastic, New
York, 1993.
A biography of the Canadian-born black American who studied engineering in Scotland and
patented over fifty inventions despite the obstacles he faced because of his race.
Walden, A. L. A President Works in Harlem, Xlibris, United States, 2007.
Weatherford, Carole B., and Kadir Nelson. Moses :When Harriet Tubman Led Her People to Freedom,
Hyperion Books for Children, New York, 2006.
Describes Tubman's spiritual journey as she hears the voice of God guiding her north to freedom
on that very first trip to escape the brutal practice of forced servitude. Tubman would make nineteen
subsequent trips back south, never being caught, but none as profound as this first one.
Winter, Jonah, and Marjorie Priceman. Jazz Age Josephine, Atheneum Books for Young Readers, New
York, 2012.
A tribute to the life of the iconic jazz entertainer depicts her disadvantaged youth in a
segregated America, her unique performance talents, and the irrepressible sense of style that helped
her overcome racial barriers.
Woodson, Jacqueline. Brown Girl Dreaming, Nancy Paulsen Books, an imprint of Penguin Group USA,
New York, 2014.
Jacqueline Woodson, one of today's finest writers, tells the moving story of her childhood in
mesmerizing verse. Raised in South Carolina and New York, Woodson always felt halfway home in each
place. In vivid poems, she shares what it was like to grow up as an African American in the 1960s and
1970s, living with the remnants of Jim Crow and her growing awareness of the Civil Rights movement.
Touching and powerful, each poem is both accessible and emotionally charged, each line a glimpse into
a child's soul as she searches for her place in the world. Woodson's eloquent poetry also reflects the joy
of finding her voice through writing stories, despite the fact that she struggled with reading as a child.
Her love of stories inspired her and stayed with her, creating the first sparks of the gifted writer she was
to become. Praise for Jacqueline Woodson: Ms. Woodson writes with a sure understanding of the
thoughts of young people, offering a poetic, eloquent narrative that is not simply a story, but a mature
exploration of grown-up issues and self- discovery."--The New York Times Book Review"--Provided by
publisher.; "The author shares her childhood memories and reveals the first sparks that ignited her
writing career in free-verse poems about growing up in the North and South"--Provided by publisher.