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Book Itch author Vaunda Micheaux Nelson: Mind the Gaps: Books for ALL Young Readers #JACBA Newsletter 24Feb2017

On Vaunda Micheaux Nelson's "Mind the Gaps: Books for ALL Young Readers" (from 2015)

In her article from the March/April 2015 issue of The Horn Book Magazine, author Vaunda Micheaux Nelson looks back at her bookish childhood and how it informs her work as a youth services librarian in Rio Rancho, New Mexico.

To commemorate Black History Month, we are highlighting a series of articles, speeches, and reviews from The Horn Book archive that are by and/or about African American authors, illustrators, and luminaries in the field - one a day through the month of February, with a roundup on Fridays.

The Book Itch: Freedom, Truth & Harlem's Greatest Bookstore by Vaunda Micheaux Nelson, illustrated by R. Gregory Christie 2016 Awardee

Bookshelf: Five Iconic African-American Biographies for Kids

Radiant Child: The Story of Young Artist Jean-Michel Basquiat Written and illustrated by Javaka Steptoe

Basquiat left a vibrant legacy that Steptoe, painting and collaging on salvaged wood pieces from Basquiat's own hunting grounds, conveys to a new generation. Steptoe's words, too, go straight for the heart, redeeming often harsh facts of the artist's life by focusing on how both his strength and his pain powered his art.

The Legendary Miss Lena Horne By Carole Boston Weatherford.

The veteran biographer Weatherford stirringly tells Lena Horne's extraordinary story - her birth into a high-achieving black family; her itinerant childhood; the showbiz career she built while enduring Jim Crow and Hollywood racism; her place in the civil rights movement; the ways "music saved her" to the end.

The Youngest Marcher By Cynthia Levinson. Illustrated by Vanessa Brantley Newton.

Levinson and Newton keep her story bright and snappy, emphasizing the girl's eagerness to make a difference and her proud place in her community.

Frederick Douglass: The Lion Who Wrote History By Walter Dean Myers. Illustrated by Floyd Cooper.

Douglass's life story has a magisterial glow in this posthumous work from the esteemed Myers. (It stands taller than most picture books, a fitting design decision.) Myers's words pointedly convey the centrality of reading and "careful decisions" to Douglass's struggle for freedom and his later public work, offering an anchor to children trying to comprehend the cruelties of American slavery. Cooper's realistic, slightly smudged art feels equally consequential, balancing dignity and emotion.

Hot Day on Abbott Avenue by Karen English, with collage art of Javaka Steptoe 2005 Awardee

Birmingham, 1963 by Carole Boston Weatherford 2008 Awardee

We've Got a Job: The 1963 Birmingham Children's March written by Cynthia Levinson 2013 Awardee

We Shall Overcome: The Story of a Song written by Debbie Levy and illustrated by Vanessa Brantley-Newton 2014 Awardee

Now Is Your Time! The African-American Struggle for Freedom written by Walter Dean Myers 1992 Awardee

Patrol: An American Soldier in Vietnam written by Walter Dean Myers 2003 Awardee

Ruth and the Green Book by Calvin Alexander Ramsey with Gwen Strauss and illustrated by Floyd Cooper 2011 Awardee

A Comprehensive Syllabus for Solange's 'A Seat at the Table' Solange's album gave voice to the struggle to maintain black humanity and sanity. Here's a list of books that do something similar.

Solange's "I Got So Much Magic, You Can Have It" You did it from the get go, get go/ Let's go, let's go, let's go look for magic, yeah/ They not gon' get it from the get go, get go, get go, get go/ Don't let, don't let, don't let anybody steal your magic, yeah/ But I got so much y'all You can have it Yeah

"What makes you magic?" Response from Marley Dias, Founder, 1000 Black Girl Books. Editor, "Marley Mag" on Elle.com:

"I am magic because of all the black women who have come before me, and because of their struggle and powerfulness that they share with me. And I am magic because of my hair, my strength, my intelligence, my family, and my history."

Texts: Ruby Bridges Goes to School: My True Story by Ruby Bridges The Watsons Go to Birmingham by Christopher Curtis Kira-Kira by Cynthia Kadohata Tar Beach by Faith Ringgold Esperanza Rising by Pam Muñoz Ryan The Logan Family Series by Mildred Taylor Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson

Through My Eyes by Ruby Bridges 2000 Awardee

Elijah of Buxton by Christopher Paul Curtis 2008 Awardee

The Watsons Go to Birmingham - 1963 by Christopher Paul Curtis 1996 Awardee

Weedflower by Cynthia Kadohata 2007 Awardee

Aunt Harriet's Underground Railroad in the Sky by Faith Ringgold 1993 Awardee

Esperanza Rising written by Pam Muñoz Ryan 2001 Awardee

The Well written by Mildred D. Taylor 1996 Awardee

Let the Circle Be Unbroken written by Mildred D. Taylor 1982 Awardee

Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry written by Mildred D. Taylor 1977 Awardee

Song of the Trees written by Mildred D. Taylor 1976 Awardee

Each Kindness written by Jacqueline Woodson, illustrated by E.B. Lewis 2013 Awardee

From the Notebooks of Melanin Sun by Jacqueline Woodson 1996 Awardee

I Hadn't Meant to Tell You This by Jacqueline Woodson 1995 Awardee

Books on Film: Javaka Steptoe LIVE (video)

The New York Times invited our reigning Caldecott Medalist, Javaka Steptoe, to create some art on Facebook Live the other day.

Hot Day on Abbott Avenue by Karen English, with collage art of Javaka Steptoe 2005 Awardee

7 books to help kids appreciate history of blacks in America

Answering the Cry for Freedom' by Gretchen Woelfle, illustrations by R. Gregory Christie

The subtitle: "Stories of African Americans and the American Revolution." Each of 13 chapters is devoted to a hardly known individual, perhaps a preacher, writer or enslaved worker. Woelfle's storytelling clips nicely along. What elevates this effort are the saucy, old-timey ink illustrations by Christie, of Mableton.

'Let's Clap, Jump, Sing & Shout; Dance, Spin & Turn It Out!' collected by Patricia C. McKissack, illustrated by Brian Pinkney

Two longtime, award-winning talents have churned out a meaty collection of familiar African-American games, poems, "on the porch or by the fire" stories and more - even "Mama Sayings" and code words used in the Underground Railroad. Pinkney's watercolor artwork dances joyfully all over the pages of this fine keepsake.

The Book Itch: Freedom, Truth & Harlem's Greatest Bookstore by Vaunda Micheaux Nelson, illustrated by R. Gregory Christie 2016 Awardee

A Long Hard Journey: The Story of the Pullman Porter written by Patricia and Fredrick McKissack 1990 Awardee

Sit-In: How Four Friends Stood Up by Sitting Down by Andrea Davis Pinkney, illustrated by Brian Pinkney 2011 Awardee

Sojourner Truth's Step-Stomp Stride, by Andrea Davis Pinkney & Brian Pinkney 2010 Awardee

Beyond Patty-Cake: Patricia McKissack collects games, songs from childhood

The award-winning author writes about these traditions in "Let's Clap, Jump, Sing & Shout; Dance, Spin & Turn It Out!," a celebration and history of the stories and songs of African-American childhood. Although not all of the material is African in origin, she writes, "through the years, black children have learned games and folk tales from other cultures, and have then made them uniquely their own by adding Afro-Caribbean rhythms and movements and by changing lyrics."

The book features the swirling, joyful illustrations of Brian Pinkney and begins with the clapping games and jump-rope rhymes of young children. It moves into fables, spirituals, parables and folktales and has a fascinating chapter on the songs inspired by the Underground Railroad.

A Long Hard Journey: The Story of the Pullman Porter written by Patricia and Fredrick McKissack 1990 Awardee

Sit-In: How Four Friends Stood Up by Sitting Down by Andrea Davis Pinkney, illustrated by Brian Pinkney 2011 Awardee

Sojourner Truth's Step-Stomp Stride, by Andrea Davis Pinkney & Brian Pinkney 2010 Awardee

MURMURATIONS (video) "Cross That Line" BY NAOMI SHIHAB NYE, CONTRIBUTING EDITOR

"Cross That Line" is an important poem to me because I loved Paul Robeson so much as a child. I loved his voice. We had a record of him singing. And you know, I wouldn't read his biography until I was an adult and know about what he suffered as a so-called communist - and how his passport was taken away from him, and he was not allowed to leave the nation, though he had a huge fan club in Europe and elsewhere.

This poem is excerpted with permission from Naomi Shihab Nye's collection of poetry, You & Yours. For more poetry, visit our Poetry Radio Project.

Habibi written by Naomi Shihab Nye 1998 Awardee

Why are we still pushing first ladies as role models for our girls?

Mrs. Grace Coolidge: "I am rather proud of the fact ... that my husband feels free to make his decisions and act upon them without consulting me," she reports in "A Kids' Guide to America's First Ladies" by Kathleen Krull. Ah, Grace: so lovely, so feminine, so obedient! Who among us would not want such a role model for our nation's little girls?

In an age when women can be secretary of state and very nearly president, I'm guessing a lot of us, and that's a problem when it comes to modern children's books about first ladies.

In Krull's book, a series of sparkling bios for the 8-12 set, her first ladies are very different, quite complicated and not always all that admirable. Krull finds role models in the usual places: Eleanor Roosevelt, Hillary Clinton, Michelle Obama. Krull is at her marvelous best when depicting underdogs and quirky originals.

Harvesting Hope: The Story of Cesar Chavez, written by Kathleen Krull, illustrated by Yuyi Morales 2004 Awardee

A study in contrasts: The evolution of black art as social protest

"Art for art's sake" never entered the equation for the former Minister of Culture for the Black Panther Party, who crafted a searing indictment of inequality in a language that even the most illiterate could understand. Art was harnessed in the march toward recognition, equality and self-realization.

Today, cultural historians view the Black Lives Matter movement as one of the most broad-based human rights coalitions formed since the Civil Rights and Black Power movements. Yet artists tackling themes of structural racism or rampant police brutality have difficulty finding a market for their work, according to Faith Ringgold, an African-American artist best known for her narrative quilt paintings.

Aunt Harriet's Underground Railroad in the Sky by Faith Ringgold 1993 Awardee

10 new children's books for Black History Month

Let's Clap, Jump, Sing & Shout; Dance, Spin & Turn It Out! By Patricia C. McKissack, illustrated by Brian Pinkney

Radiant Child: The Story of Young Artist Jean-Michel Basquiat By Javaka Steptoe

Preaching to the Chickens By Jabari Asim, illustrated by E. B. Lewis

Steamboat School By Deborah Hopkinson, illustrated by Ron Husband

Accompanied by crosshatch-style illustrations by Ron Husband, Disney's first African-American animator, Steamboat School follows a fictional child whose courage leads him to Meachum's "Floating Freedom School."

A Long Hard Journey: The Story of the Pullman Porter written by Patricia and Fredrick McKissack 1990 Awardee

Sit-In: How Four Friends Stood Up by Sitting Down by Andrea Davis Pinkney, illustrated by Brian Pinkney 2011 Awardee

Sojourner Truth's Step-Stomp Stride, by Andrea Davis Pinkney & Brian Pinkney 2010 Awardee

Hot Day on Abbott Avenue by Karen English, with collage art of Javaka Steptoe 2005 Awardee

Each Kindness written by Jacqueline Woodson, illustrated by E.B. Lewis 2013 Awardee

Night Boat to Freedom, written by Margot Theis Raven with pictures by E. B. Lewis 2007 Awardee

Girl Wonder: A Baseball Story in Nine Innings by Deborah Hopkinson, illustrated by Terry Wideners, 2004 Awardee

Shutting Out the Sky: Life in the Tenements of New York 1880-1924 by Deborah Hopkinson 2004 Awardee

A Band of Angels: A Story Inspired written by the Jubilee Singers by Deborah Hopkinson, illustrated by Raúl Colón, 2000 Awardee

VIRGINIA TEEN PLAYED CRUCIAL ROLE IN CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT Column: Johns finally getting recognition she deserves

The story of Barbara Johns and Moton school remained largely untold in Farmville and Prince Edward County for decades. Those who lived there at the time don't talk much about it.

Historians seem to link the civil rights movement's birth to the Brown case in 1954. In fact, it began earlier with the courage of rural teenager Barbara Johns. Her legacy deserves a more prominent place in history.

The Girl From the Tar Paper School: Barbara Rose Johns and the advent of the Civil Rights Movement by Teri Kanefield 2015 Awardee

Scott Reynolds Nelson discusses John Henry and the birth of Rock 'n' Roll

On Thursday, Feb. 16, Scott Reynolds Nelson, UGA Athletic Association Professor of History at the University of Georgia, visited Carnegie Mellon as part of the Department of History and the University Lecture Series in conjunction with the Hiawatha Project. The award-winning author of Steel Drivin' Man: John Henry, the Untold Story of an American Legend and several other books, Nelson revisited the legend of John Henry and its roots in the evolution of music from the 19th century to today in his lecture, titled "Take this Hammer: The Death of John Henry and the Birth of Rock 'n' Roll."

The story of John Henry, Nelson said, changed from a story about death to a story of a legend, a story of heroism, embraced by workers and laborers against the perils of capitalism and advancing technology. Nelson is currently working on a history of Kansas wheat, Russian communists, and the end of World War I.

Ain't Nothing But a Man: My Quest to Find the Real John Henry, published by National Geographic by Scott Reynolds Nelson and Marc Aronson 2009 Awardee

Community events remembering the signing of Executive Order 9066

2017 marks the 75th Anniversary of the signing of Executive Order 9066 of 1942. In remembrance of the impact this made on the Japanese American community, numerous events in Washington state will be take place throughout the year.

Sunday, April 9: WHAT: "Conspiracy of Kindness: You've Given Me Life" WHERE: Blaine Memorial United Methodist Church, 3001 24th Ave. S., Seattle "Conspiracy of Kindness: You've Given Me Life" focuses on the legacy of Consul General Chiune Sugihara who saved thousands of Jews during the Holocaust. Dramatic performance and panel will feature Alton Takiyama Chung, Lori Tsugawa Whaley, Ken Mochizuki & Dee Simon.

Passage to Freedom: The Sugihara Story by Ken Mochizuki 1998 Awardee

A OPRF pop-up museum of black history Images of prominent African Americans accompany QR codes offering virtual history lessons

Jason Spoor-Harvey, OPRF's history division chair, is working with students from his history classes and various extracurricular clubs to tape a total of 150 images "celebrating black excellence" on hallway walls at OPRF for the duration of Black History Month. "I teach African history, so we talk about how our history classes are white-washed and what that means and how that supports the racial hierarchy," Spoor-Harvey said while standing near a poster of Claudette Colvin.

According to author Phillip Hoose, who wrote an award-winning book about Colvin called "Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice," black civil rights leaders at the time declined to press Colvin's case through the courts because they "worried they couldn't win with her," Hoose told the New York Times in 2009.

"Words like 'mouthy,' 'emotional' and 'feisty' were used to describe her," Hoose said, adding that Parks was considered "stolid, calm, unflappable."

Hey, Little Ant written by Phillip and Hannah Hoose 1999 Awardee

Claudette Colvin by Phillip Hoose 2010 Awardee

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Since 1953, the Jane Addams Children's Book Award annually acknowledges books published in the U.S. during the previous year. Books commended by the Award address themes of topics that engage children in thinking about peace, justice, world community and/or equality of the sexes and all races. The books also must meet conventional standards of literacy and artistic excellence.

A national committee chooses winners and honor books for younger and older children.