Picture Book Biographies

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…

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…

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…

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…

Carole Boston Weatherford (A) and Kadir Nelson (ILT)

List Price: $18.99 (Hardcover – African American History / Leader / Spiritual / Bravery – 2006)

A CALDECOTT HONOR BOOK

 “I set the North Star in the heavens and I mean for you to be free.”

Born into slavery, Harriet Tubman hears these words from…

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…

 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…

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…

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…

Discover the inspiring true story of extraordinary professional cyclist Major Taylor in this nonfiction picture book from Coretta Scott King Award winners Lesa Cline-Ransome and James E. Ransome.

In 1891, Marshall Taylor could ride his bike forward, backward, even perched on the handlebars. When his stunts landed him a job at the famous…

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…

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…

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…

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…

Vashti Harrison (A and ILT)

Vashti Harrison (A and ILT) 

From the author of Little Leaders: Bold Women in Black History comes the highly anticipated follow-up, a beautifully illustrated collectible detailing the lives of women creators around the world.

Featuring the true…

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.

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,…

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…

Jarrett Dapier (A) and Eugenia Mello (ILT) 

List Price: $17.99  (Hardcover – Jazz Greats – 2021)

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…

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…

Walter Dean Myers (A) and Bonnie Christensen (ILT)

List Price: $17.99 (Hardcover – Biography / Activist – Journalist/ Exposed Lynching – 2008)

Ida B. Wells was an extraordinary woman. Long before boycotts, sit-ins, and freedom rides, Ida B. Wells was hard at work to better the lives…

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…

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…

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

Margot Lee Shetterly (A) and Laura Freeman (ILT) 

List Price: $19.99 (Hardcover – Black Scientists / Save NASA Program -2018)

Based on the New York Times bestselling book and the Academy Award–nominated movie, author Margot Lee Shetterly and illustrator Laura Freeman bring the incredibly inspiring true story of four black women who helped NASA launch men…

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…

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…

Carole Boston Weatherford (A) and Jamey Christoph (ILT) 

List Price: $16.99 (Hardcover – Harlem Renaissance Photographer – 2015)

His white teacher tells her all-black class, You’ll all wind up porters and waiters. What did she know? Gordon Parks is most famous for being the first black director in Hollywood. But before he made…

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…

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

List Price $17.99 (Hardcover – Legendary Tennis Champions – 2018)

This lovingly crafted picture book biography centers on the incredible bond between Venus and Serena Williams…An important selection for biography and sports collections.” —School Library Journal (starred review)

“Will…

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…

Louise Borden (A), Mary Kay Kroeger (A) and Teresa Flavin (ILT)

List Price: $8.99 (Paperback – First Black Aviator – 2004)

When Bessie Coleman was a child, she wanted to be in school — not in the cotton fields of Texas, helping her family earn money. She wanted to be somebody significant in…

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…

Suzanne Slade (A) and Cozbi A. Carbrera (ILT)

List Price: $18.99 (Hardcover – Poet / First Black Person to Win A Pulitzer Prize – 2020)

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…

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…

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…

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…

Kadir Nelson (A) and Ntozake Shange (ILT)

List Price $17.99 (Hardcover – African American History / Civil Rights Leader – 2009)

Walking many miles to school in the dusty road, young Coretta knew, too well, the unfairness of life in the segregated south.

A yearning for equality began to grow.
Together with Martin…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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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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…

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…

Vaunda Micheaux Nelson (A) and R. Gregory Christie (ILT)

List Price: $19.99  (Library Binding – Biography Law Enforcement / U.S. Marshall – 2009)

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Scott Reynolds Nelson (A) and Marc Aronson (A)

List Price: $18.95 (Hardcover – History / John Henry / Folk Hero – 2007)

Who was the real John Henry? The story of this legendary African-American figure has come down to us in so many songs, stories, and plays, that the facts are often lost.…

Aliki (A and ILT)

List Price: $7.99 (Paperback – Biography / Scientist – 1988)

From humble beginnings, George Washington Carver became one of the greatest scientist in the United States. His dedication to helping his people led him to find over three hundred uses for…