Picture Book Biographies

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…

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…

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.…

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

List Price: $19.99 (Hardcover – Biography / Leader / Abolitionist / Orator – 2012)

The inspirational, true story of how Frederick Douglass found his way to freedom one word at a time.

This picture book biography chronicles the youth of Frederick Douglass, one of…

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

List Price: $18.99 (Hardcover – Biography / African American Leader / Abolitionist and Feminist – 2009)

A dynamic portrait of the freed slave whose physical and spiritual strength made her one of America most powerful abolitionist voices.

Synopsis:She was big. She was black. She was…

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…

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…

Jonah Winter (A) and Bryan Collier (ILT)

List Price: $18.99 (Hardcover – Supreme  Court Justice / Brilliant Lawyer – 2019)  

Thurgood Marshall–the first black justice on the Supreme Court and a giant of the civil rights movement–jumps to life in this inspiring picture-book biography from an award-winning author and six-time Coretta Scott…

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…

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…

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…

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…

Margaret Musgrove (A) Leo Dillon (ILT) and Diane Dillon (ILT)

List Price $21.99 (Hardcover – 26 African Tribes / Traditions – 1992)

From A to Z, an authentic portrait of 26 African tribes, stunningly illustrated by winners of the 1976 & 1977 Caldecott Medal. The magnificently composed pictures are warm with the tones…

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…

 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…

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…

Discover the hidden figure who created the first comprehensive computer program to design ships for the US Navy.

Girls like Raye Montague weren’t supposed to like math or science, or go to engineering school. But tenacious Raye had a plan, one that eventually took her all the way to the US Navy. There, she…

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…

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…

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…

Troy Andrews (A) and Bryan Collier (ILT)

List Price: $19.99 (Hardcover – Musician Bio – 2015)

“Winner of both a Caldecott Honor and a Coretta Scott King Award, this beautiful picture book for older kids is an inspirational look at overcoming our circumstances to follow our dreams, in this case that of a young musician…

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…

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…

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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Gary D. Schmidt (A) and Daniel Minter (ILT) 

List Price: $18.99 (Hardcover – Abolitionist/ Feminists / Leader – 2018)

From celebrated author Gary D. Schmidt comes a picture book biography of a giant in the struggle for civil rights, perfectly pitched for readers today.

Sojourner Truth was born into slavery but possessed a mind and…

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…

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…

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…

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…

Kadir Nelson (A and ILT)

List Price: $21.99 (Hardcover – Sports / Negro League Baseball – 2008)

2010 Coretta Scott King Author Award and Illustrator Honor Award

We are the ship; all else the sea. Rube Foster, founder of the Negro National League

The story of…

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.

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…

“Ida B. Wells is featured in this picture-book biography for another one of her passionate causes: women’s suffrage.” —Booklist

“A tribute to a tireless African American journalist and crusader for social justice​.” —Kirkus Reviews

“Johnson writes with the conviction of Ida B. Wells and her inherent beliefs about right and…

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.

Vashti Harrison (A and ILT)

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…

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…

Carole Boston Weatherford (A) and Frank Morrison (ILT)

List Price: $18.99 (Hardcover – Soul Singer / Queen of Soul – 2020)

Winner of the Coretta Scott King Illustration Award! From a New York Times bestselling author and an acclaimed illustrator comes this vibrant portrait of Aretha Franklin that pays her the R-E-S-P-E-C-T this…

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…

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…

Deloris Jordan (A) and Kadir Nelson (ILT)

List Price: $8.99 (Paperback- Biography / Sports / Basketball – 2000)

Young Michael Jordan, who is smaller than the other players, learns that determination and hard work are more important than size when playing the game of basketball. (32 pgs) Ages 4-8

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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…

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…

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…

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…

Chris Barton (A) and Eukua Holmes (ILT) 

List Price: $18.99 (Hardcover –  Biography / Congresswoman Barbara Jordan – 2017) 

When Barbara Jordan talked, we listened.” —Former President of the United States, Bill Clinton

Congresswoman Barbara Jordan had a big, bold, confident voice—and she knew how to use it! Learn all about her…

Carole Boston Weatherford (A) and Ekua Holmes (ILT)

List Price: $18.99 (Hardcover – Biography / Poetry / Freedom Fighter – 2015)

A 2016 Caldecott Honor Book
A 2016 Robert F. Sibert Honor Book
A 2016 John Steptoe New Talent Illustrator Award Winner

Stirring poems and stunning collage illustrations combine to celebrate the life…

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…