Picture Book Biographies

Misty Copeland (A) and Christopher Myers (ILT)

List Price: $18.99 (Hardcover – Biography / Ballerina – 2014)

In her debut picture book, Misty Copeland tells the story of a young girl–an every girl–whose confidence is fragile and who is questioning her own ability to reach the heights that Misty has reached. Misty encourages this young…

Sandra Neil Wallace (A) and Bryan Collier (ILT) 

List Price: $18.99 ( Hardcover – Artist / Painter – 2018)

2019 Orbis Pictus Book Award Winner

“A visually striking, enlightening picture-book biography.” —Booklist (starred review)

“An absolutely indispensable illustrated biography that will remind readers of all ages that it’s never too late to pursue their…

Heather Henson (A) and Bryan Collier ILT)

List Price: $18.99 (Hardcover – Legendary Cave Explorer and Slave -2016)

Grab your lantern and follow the remarkable and world-famous Mammoth Cave explorer—and slave—Stephen Bishop as he guides you through the world’s largest cave system in this remarkable homage to the resilience of human nature.

Welcome…

From the Newberry Honor–winning author of Genesis Begins Again comes a shimmering picture book that shines the light on Zora Neale Hurston, the extraordinary writer and story catcher extraordinaire who changed the face of American literature.

Zora was a girl who hankered for tales like bees for honey. Now, her mama…

Monica Brown (A) and Rafael Lopez (ILT) 

List Price: $15.95 (Hardcover – Famous Cuban Singer – 2004)

This bilingual book allows young readers to enter Celia Cruz’s life as she becomes a well-known singer in her homeland of Cuba, then moves to New York City and Miami where she and others create a new…

This groovy, bebopping, music picture book biography chronicles legendary jazz saxophonist Sonny Rollins’s search for inspiration on the Williamsburg Bridge after quitting the jazz scene in 1959.

Rollins is one of the most prolific sax players in the history of jazz, but, in 1959, at the height of his career, he vanished from the…

Chris Barton (A) and Don Tate (ILT) 

List Price: $17.99 (Hardcover – Biography / Inventor –  2016)

You know the Super Soaker. It’s one of top twenty toys of all time. And it was invented entirely by accident. Trying to create a new cooling system for refrigerators and air conditioners, impressive inventor Lonnie…

Ilyasha Shabazz (A) and AG Ford (ILT)

List Price: $19.99 (Hardcover – African American Leader / Civil Rights Era – 2014)

Malcolm X grew to be one of America’s most influential figures. But first, he was a boy named Malcolm Little. Written by his daughter, this inspiring picture book biography celebrates a vision…

Helaine Becker (A) and Tiemdow Phumiruk (ILT)

List Price: $19.99 (Hardcover – Mathematician / NASA Genius – 2019)

The bold story of Katherine Johnson, an African-American mathematician who worked for NASA during the space race and was depicted in the film Hidden Figures.

You’ve likely heard of the historic Apollo 13 moon landing. But do you know…

Paula Young Shelton (A) and Ralu Colo (ILT)

List Price: $8.99  (Paperback – African American History / Civil Rights Era – 2009)

Two parents decide to return with their three daughters to the Deep South during the time of the Freedom Riders, the early 1960s, returning to Georgia…

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…

Laura Driscoll (A) and Jill Weber (ILT)

List Price: $7.99 (Paperback – Biography / Scientist – 2003)

Annie Marcus is just nuts about peanut butter! When Annie finds out that George Washington Carver was responsible for the popularity of peanuts, she picks him for her scientist report. Annie learns all…

Miranda Paul (A) and Baptiste Paul (A) and Elizabeth Zunon (ILT)

Kathryn Erksine (A) and Charly Parker (ILT)

List Price: $22.50 (Hardcover – South Africa / Singer / Activist – 2017)

Miriam Makeba, a Grammy Award–winning South African singer, rose to fame in the hearts of her people at the pinnacle of apartheid―a brutal system of segregation similar to American Jim Crow laws. Mama…

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…

Jonah Winter (A) and A G Ford (ILT)

List Price: $8.99 (Paperback – Biography – African American History / 44th President 2008)

This is a journey that began in many places.

It began in Kansas, home of Barack’s mother. It began in Africa, home…

 Michelle E. Thomas (A) and Donald L. Hill (ILT) 

List Price: $11.99 (Paperback – Activity and Coloring Book – 2017) 

The Marcus Garvey Activity Book is an overview of Marcus Mosiah Garvey’s life and all his great accomplishments. This book provides our youth with an introduction of Marcus Garvey in hopes of them wanting to…

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…

From bestselling, award-winning creators Renée Watson and Bryan Collier comes a stunningly crafted picture book chronicling the life of poet and activist Maya Angelou.

This unforgettable picture book introduces young readers to the life and work of Maya Angelou, whose words have uplifted and inspired generations of readers. The author…

Donna Jo Napoli (A) and Kadir Nelson (ILT)

List Price: $19.99 (Hardcover – Biography – East Africa / Visionary/ Tree Planting / Green Belt Movement – Kenya – 2010)

One woman. One seed.

One hope for the future.

Thayu nyumba — Peace, my people.

Wangari grew up in the shadow of Mount Kenya…

Katheryn-Russell-Brown (A) and Fran Morrison (ILT)

List Price: $18.95 (Hardcover – Biography / Music / Trombone / Loved Music – 2014)

Melba Doretta Liston loved the sounds of music from as far back as she could remember. As a child, she daydreamed about beats and lyrics, and hummed along with the music from…

Veronica Chambers (A) and Julie Maren (ILT)

List Price: $8.99 (Paperback- Cuban Singer / Queen of Salsa – 2005)

Everyone knows the flamboyant, larger-than-life Celia Cruz, the extraordinary salsa singer who passed away in 2003, leaving millions of fans brokenhearted. indeed, there was a magical vibrancy to the Cuban salsa singer. to hear…

Peter Golenbock (A) and Paul Lee (A) and (ILT)

List Price: $7.99 (Paperback – Biography / Sports / Baseball – 2005)

This is a true story about one of baseballs most heroic superstars who is best known for beating Babe Ruth’s record. Later he was admitted into Baseballs elite…

Take a journey through Black history and find your greatness in this stunning book from the award-winning team behind the New York Times bestsellers Crowned and Glory.

Jabari Asim (A) and Bryan Collier

List Price: $18.99 (Hardcover – Biography / Educator / Self Reliance -2012)

Booker dreamed
of making friends with words,
setting free the secrets
that lived in books.

Born into slavery, young Booker T. Washington could only dream of learning to read and write. After emancipation, Booker…

Kelly Starling Lyons (A) and Laura Freeman (ILT)

List Price $20.95 (Hardcover – Builder / Designer / Architect – 2021)

The Story of Architect Philip Freelon

You’ve seen the building. Now meet the man whose life went into it.

Philip Freelon’s grandfather was an acclaimed painter of the Harlem…

Vashti Harrison (A and ILT)

Andrea Davis Pinkney (A) and Brian Pinkney (ILT)

List Price: $9.99 (Paperback – Performance /Composer / Jazz – 2006)

A swinging, vibrant picture book about America’s greatest jazz composer, Duke Ellington. By the award-winning duo Andrea and Brian Pinkney. (32 pgs) Ages 4-8

• Grade Level: Kindergarten – 4
• Product Dimensions: 8.5…

In this timely follow-up to the best-selling, genre-defining Young, Gifted and Black, you can meet 52 more Black icons from around the world – this time spanning even more countries and including inspiring figures from as far back as the 1500s right up to present-day heroes.

Featuring the stories of recent changemakers such…

Useni Eugene Perkins (A) and Laura Freeman (ILT)

List Price: $17.95 (Hardcover – 1st President of Ghana – 2021)

On a humid March night in 1957, Kwame Nkrumah made history. While thousands of people cheered, including dignitaries from round the world, he announced his country’s independence. After many years of British rule,…

“A brilliant introduction to a powerful Black female politician and voting rights activist. Todd and Freeman bring this to life in their creative biography of Georgia-based politician Abrams.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred reviews)

“Freeman’s airbrush-style digital art leans into portraiture while visually bridging the astral divide, evoking yearning, frustration, and sisterly…

A picture-book biography of celebrated poet Gwendolyn Brooks, the first Black person to win the Pulitzer Prize

A 2021 Coretta Scott King Book Award Illustrator Honor Book
A 2021 Robert F. Sibert Informational Honor Book
A 2021 Association of Library Service to…

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

List Price: $8.99 (Paperback – Biography / Leader / Revolutionary – 2003)

“I believe in recognizing every human being
as a human being, neither white, black, brown, nor red.”

This was just one of the messages that Malcolm X brought to people of…

A powerful and vibrantly illustrated account of the resilience and dedication of the unsung Black heroines who played a major role in World War II. Perfect for fans of Hidden Figures, Opal Lee and What It Means to Be Free, and Tyler Perry’s blockbuster film The Six Triple Eight.

In 1944, the United States was…

Gene Barretta (A) and Frank Morrison (ILT) 

List Price: $17.99 (Hardcover – Biography / Sports / Boxing Champ – 2017)

There are themes of hard work, determination, overcoming obstacles, boxing, sports, persistence, and confidence—something Muhammad Ali clearly had plenty of.”*

In this picture book biography of Muhammad Ali, author Gene Barretta and illustrator…

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…

A singular, richly illustrated picture book biography of Bayard Rustin, the gay Black man behind the March on Washington of 1963, by the acclaimed authors of Unspeakable: the Tulsa Race Massacre and Pride: The Story of Harvey Milk and the Rainbow Flag.

On August 28, 1963, a quarter of a million activists and demonstrators from every corner of…

Nikki Grimes (A) and Bryan Collier (ILT)

List Price: $9.99 (Paperback – Biography – African American History/President – 2008)

Ever since Barack Obama was young, Hope has lived inside him. From the beaches of Hawaii to the streets of Chicago, from the jungles of Indonesia to the plains of Kenya, he has held…

Kamala Harris (A) and Mechal Renee Roe (ILT)

List Price: $17.99 (Hardcover – Biography / Senator and Presidential Candidate – 2019)

From Senator Kamala Harris comes a picture book with an empowering message: Superheroes are all around us–and if we try, we can all be heroes too. Now a #1 New York…

Vashti Harrison (A and ILT)

List Price: $17.99 (Hardcover – Leaders and Achievers – 2019)

New York Times bestselling author-illustrator Vashti Harrison shines a bold, joyous light on black men through history.

Carole Boston Weatherford (A) and (ILT) James E. Ransome

List Price: $18.99 (Hardcover – Kids Bio of Dr. King – 2018)

You can be a King. Stamp out hatred. Put your foot down and walk tall.

You can be a King. Beat the drum for justice. March to your own conscience.

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Sharifa Rhodes-Pitts (A) and Christopher Myers (ILT)

List Price: $18.95 (Hardcover – Bio / Artist / Harlem Renaissance – 2015)

Jake Makes a World follows the creative adventures of the young Jacob Lawrence as he finds inspiration in the vibrant colors and characters of his community in Harlem. From his mother’s apartment, where he…

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…

Kadir Nelson (A and ILT)

List Price: $18.99 (Hardcover – Biography / African American Leader – 2014)

A Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor Book

From Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s daughter, Dr. Bernice A. King: My father’s dream continues to live on from generation to generation, and this beautiful and powerful illustrated edition…

Audrey Vernick (A) and Don Tate (ILT) Harper Collins

List Price: $16.99 (Hardcover – Biography / Baseball – 2010)

Effa always loved baseball. As a young woman, she would go to Yankee Stadium just to see Babe Ruth’s mighty swing. But she never dreamed she…

Lesa Cline- Ransome (A) and James E. Ransome (ILT) 

List Price: $8.99 (Hardcover – Biography – African American Leader / Pioneer – 2019) 

Who was Harriet Tubman before she was Harriet?

Description: We know her today as Harriet Tubman, but in her lifetime she was called by many names. As General Tubman she…

Heidi Tyline King (A) and Ekua Holmes (ILT)

List Price: $18.99 (Hardcover – Environmental Story / Activism – 2021)

This heartfelt picture book biography illustrated by the Caldecott Honoree Ekua Holmes, tells the story of MaVynee Betsch, an African American opera singer turned environmentalist and the legacy she preserved.MaVynee loved going to the beach. But…