Before John Was A Jazz Giant: A Song of John Coltrane

Young John Coltrane was all ears. And there was a lot to hear growing up in the South in the 1930s: preachers praying, music on the radio, the bustling of the household. These vivid noises shaped John’s own sound as a musician. Carole Boston…

Phil Bildner (A) and John Holyfield (ILT)

List Price: $17.99 (Hardcover – African American History/Aviation – 2010)

The extraordinary story of James Banning, the first African-American pilot to fly across country

During the Great Depression, the ace black pilot James Banning decided to fly from coast to coast to serve as an…

Peter H. Reynolds (A) and (ILT)

List Price: $17.99 (Hardcover – Family Dinner Table – 2021) 

Creative visionary of The Word Collector, Happy Dreamer, and The Dot, #1 New York Times bestseller Peter H. Reynolds creates a tender, lyrical story of multigenerational love, tradition, and family coming together with gratitude…

Tonya Bolden (A) and Don Tate (ILT)

List Price: $18.39 (Hardcover – Farmer / Potato King – 2018)

Discover the incredible true story of how one of history’s most successful potato farmers began life as a slave and worked until he was named the “Potato King of the World”!

Junius G. Groves came from humble…

Nina is an energetic girl who loves gymnastics. 

It is her dream to become a gymnast. Everywhere Nina goes, she wants everyone to see her awesome gymnastics moves and she is NOT shy about it. Nina even helps her friends and family learn how to do gymnastics moves too. 

Cynthia Levinson (A) and Vanessa Brantley-Newton (ILT)

List Price: $17.99 (Hardcover – Civil Rights / Protest – 2017)

Meet the youngest known child to be arrested for a civil rights protest in Birmingham, Alabama, 1963, in this moving picture book that proves you’re never too little to make a difference.

Nine-year-old Audrey Faye…

National Book Award–winning and New York Times bestselling author Ibram X. Kendi (How to Be an Antiracist, Antiracist Baby) returns with a new picture book that serves as a modern bedtime classic.

As children all over the…

Mary Hoffman (A) and Caroline Binch (ILT)

In this book from the critically acclaimed, multimillion-copy best-selling Little People, BIG DREAMS series, discover the life of Martin Luther King Jr., the inspiring minister and civil rights activist.

Little Martin grew up in a family of preachers: his dad was a preacher, his uncle was a preacher, his grandfather was a preacher…so maybe…

Walter Dean Myers (A) and Leonard Jenkins (ILT)

List Price: $8.99 (Paperback – Civil Rights Movement History – 2003)

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., is one of the most celebrated figures of the twentieth century. A crusader for nonviolent social justice, he led African Americans in their demands for equality through peaceful…

Susan Verde (A) and Peter Reynolds (ILT)

List Price: $14.99 ( Hardcover – Teaches Empathy and Compassion -2018)

From the picture book dream team behind I Am Yoga and I Am Peace comes the third book in their wellness series: I Am Human. A hopeful meditation on all the great (and challenging) parts…

Monica Gunning (A) and Elaine Peddlar (ILT)

List Price $11.95 (Paperback -Homelessness / Mother and Daughter – 2013)

When her father died, Zettie and her mother left their warm and comfortable home in Jamaica for an uncertain future in the United Sates. Zetties mother cant find a steady job so they are forced…

Jason Reynolds (A) and Jerome Pumphrey and Jarrett Pumphrey (ILT)

List Price: $18.99 (Hardcover – A Celebration of Langston Hughes – 2023)

A Caldecott Honor Book
A Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor Book

New York Times bestselling and award-winning author Jason Reynolds’s debut picture book is…

A moving tribute to the joy and grounding that fathers bring to their children’s lives.

What does a daddy do? From day one, this daddy speaks love to his little one. And along with that love, his words and actions speak many other things, too: like truth, joy, comfort,…

A picture book biography about the barber shop of woodcarver Elijah Pierce, recipient of the highest folk art honor in the United States.

“Creeeeak!” goes the screen door to self-taught artist Elijah Pierce’s barbershop art studio. A young boy walks in for an ordinary haircut and walks out having discovered a lifetime of art.

…

What will Maya be when she grows up? A rocket scientist like Annie Easley? An Olympic athlete like Alice Coachman? A brain surgeon like Alexa Canady?

In this heart-warming and funny story, Maya discovers the achievements of some amazing Black women . . . but it’s a brave Nigerian princess who really captures her…

Kadir Nelson (A and ILT)

List Price: $11.99 (Paperback – African Leader / South Africa – 2013)

A Coretta Scott King Honor Book

In this picture book biography, award-winning author and illustrator Kadir Nelson tells the story of Mandela, a global icon, in poignant free verse and glorious illustrations. It is the story…

Useni Eugene Perkins (A) and Bryan Collier (ILT)

List Price: $18.99 (Hardcover – Identity / Celebrating Identity – Self Esteem – 2017)

Six-time Coretta Scott King Award winner and four-time Caldecott Honor recipient Bryan Collier brings this classic, inspirational poem to life, written by poet Useni Eugene Perkins.

A warm, wonderful picture book that gently reminds us of the importance of respecting our natural world and highlights the joys and rewards of helping others.

Join a girl as she helps a mama and papa bird build a nest in her bathroom, hatch their eggs, and teach their…

Eve Bunting (A) and James Ransome (ILT)

List Price: $18.99 (Hardcover – Gang Situation / Brothers / Peer Pressure – 1998)

When ten-year-old James gang initiation endangers his six-year-old brother Isaac, they find the courage to say, Thanks, but no thanks. One night while their mom’s at work, ten-year-old James…

Junot Diaz (A) and Leo Espinoza (ILT)

List Price: $19.99 (Hardcover – Family Remembering The Past / Home – 2018)

From New York Times bestseller and Pulitzer Prize winner Junot Díaz comes a debut picture book about the magic of memory and the infinite power of the imagination.

Every kid in Lola’s school was from…

Kajara Nia Yaa Nebthet (A) and Kasmos Kari Black (ILT)

List Price: $11.99 (Paperback – Spirit and Oneness – 2017)

This is an excellent choice for introducing the concept of spirit and unity with nature. I am Mind, Body and spirit speaks about three main aspects of the self in a way that children can…

Carolivia Herron (A) and Joe Cepeda (ILT)

List Price: $7.99 (Paperback – Hair / Self Esteem / Family – 1998)

You sure do got some nappy hair on your head, don’t you? Well. It’s your hair Brenda, take the cake. Yep.In a unique and vibrant picture book that uses the African-American call-and-response tradition,…

The inspirational true story of Ruby Bridges.

Please, God, try to forgive those people. Because even if they say those bad things, They dont know what theyre doing. This is the true story of an extraordinary 6-year-old who helped shape history when she became the first African-American sent to first grade in an…

Sarvinder Naberhaus (A) and Kadir Nelson (ILT)

List Price: $19.99  (Hardcover -A Tribute to America – 2017)

Descripiion:  An inspiring and patriotic tribute to the beauty of the American flag, a symbol of America’s history, landscape, and people, illustrated by New York Times bestselling and Caldecott-honor winning artist Kadir Nelson

Wonderfully spare, deceptively simple verses…

The New York Times bestselling team behind Parker Looks Up returns with this Level 1 Ready-to-Read about trying to make a good day out of a bad one.

Parker is not having a good day.  All she wants is some time alone to read her book, but her brother and sister will not stop following…

Karen Katz (A and ILT)

List Price: $8.99 (Paperback – African American Holiday / Kwanzaa – 2003)

A round-faced, happy little girl tells about her family Kwanzaa celebration. The simple text and colorful folkloric illustrations with vivid patterns make this a good book to share with young children. Adults will appreciate the brief…

Ellen Levin (A) and Kadir Nelson (ILT)

List Price: $18.99 (Hardcover – African American History /Escape to Freedom – 2007)

A stirring, dramatic story of a slave who mails himself to freedom by a Jane Addams Peace Award-winning author and a Coretta Scott King Award-winning artist.

Henry Brown doesn’t know how old he…

Shaquille O’Neal (A) and Theodore Taylor III (ILT)

List Price: $9.99 (Hardcover – Basketball Star / Confidence – 2017)

This new story in the exciting series created by Shaquille O’Neal and illustrated by Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe New Talent award winner Theodore Taylor III, encourages kids to find their own true talents.

Like…

Patricia Lakin (A) and Valerio Fabbretti (ILT) 

List Price: $16.99 (Hardcover – Heroes Of Civil War – 2017)

Get to know heroes of the Civil War in this fact-tastic, nonfiction Level 3 Ready-to-Read, part of a new series about the secrets of American History!

Secrets of American History is an action-packed nonfiction Level…

Discover how a young girl who loved to read and write became a voting rights activist, a candidate for governor of Georgia, and an author.

Presenting Who HQ Now: an exciting addition to the #1 New York Times Best-Selling Who Was? series!

Stacey Abrams began her career in politics at the age of seventeen…

Mark Gonzales (A) and Mehrdokt Amini (ILT)

List Price: $18.99 (Hardcover – Muslim Culture / Identity and Acceptance – 2017)

From Muslim and Latino poet Mark Gonzales comes a touching and lyrical picture book about a parent who encourages their child to find joy and pride in all aspects of their multicultural identity.

…

Sasha Ariel Alston (A) and Vanessa Newton Brantley

List Price: $14.99 (Hardcover – STEM/ Tween / Learns to Code- 2017)

Selected for the 2018 Girls of Summer Reading List
Sasha Savvy Loves to Code is an early reader chapter book (ages 7-10). The main character, Sasha Savvy, is a super smart 10-year old…

For fans of I Am Enough, The Day You Begin, and The Wonderful Things You Will Be, here is a poignant picture book about how family and community help shape the wonderful people our children become.

My child, my little one,
Who will you be when you are…

Last Stop on Market Street gets a jazzy twist in this finger-licking good celebration of music, food, and family.

Struttin’ with Auntie Nina down to a club,
We’re gonna hear some music and then eat some grub.
Wanna get up close, but we’re…

“This installment in the Geisel-winning Ty’s Travels series adds some much-needed diversity to the beginning-reader shelf” —Booklist 

Join Ty on his imaginative adventures in Ty’s Travels: Lab Magic, a My First I Can Read book by acclaimed author and illustrator team Kelly…

The granddaughter of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Coretta Scott King delivers a stirring tribute to her grandparents that speaks to children everywhere about her hopes for a new future.

In this stirring tribute to Coretta Scott King and Martin Luther King, Jr., their granddaughter, Yolanda – a national civil rights figure in her…

Discover the inspiring story of Augustus Jackson, an African American entrepreneur who is known as “the father of ice cream,” in this beautifully illustrated picture-book biography.

Augustus Jackson was born in 1808 in Philadelphia. While most African Americans were enslaved at that time, in Pennsylvania, slavery was against the law. But while Augustus and…

2024 Golden Poppy Award Winner

An intimate look at Juneteenth, this story is a warm exploration of a family and a community. 

Juneteenth is the smell of brisket filling the air. Juneteenth is the sounds of music, dancing, and cheering ringing from the parade outside. It is love. It is prayer. It is friends…

Shane Evans (A and ILT)

List Price: $9.99 (Paperback -Civil Rights / A  Family Prepare to March – 2016)

On August 28, 1963, a remarkable event took place–more than 250,000 people gathered in our nation’s capital to participate in the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. The march began at the Washington…

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (A) & Susan Jeffers (ILT)

List Price: $8.99 (Paperback – Multicultural Bilingual – 1996)

Rich in imagery and detail, this exquisitely rendered picture book introduces readers to one of America’s favorite classic poems, “The Song of Hiawatha” by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. Illustrated by Susan Jeffers, the Caldecott-Honor winning author of <u…

The bestselling illustrator of I Am Enough brings to life the story of a boy whose mirror gives him a whole new way of seeing himself.

Chris loves his long, curly hair, so why do his classmates tease him about it? When he looks for answers in his mirror, something wonderfully wild and…

Christine King Farris (A) and Chris K. Soentpiet (ILT) (A)

List Price: $19.95 (Hardcover – Martin Luther King / Family – 2005)

Long before he became a world-famous dreamer, Martin Luther King Jr. was a little boy who played practical jokes and made friends without any consideration to race. But growing…

Rachel Isadora (A and ILT)

List Price: $8.99 (Paperback – Classic Fairy Tale / Africentric Version – 2009)

This adaptation of the well-known Hans Christian Andersen tale of the princess and the pea gets new look and new audience. It begins with a setting in East Africa and a prince searching for a…

Anne Rockwell (A) and R. Gregory Christie (ILT)

List Price: $8.99 (Paperback – Biography / African American Hisotry / Abolitionist / Women Rights – 2002)

Powerful picture book biography of one of the abolitionist movement most compelling voices.

Sojourner Truth traveled the country…