Black Lives Matter. Here you will find picture book bographies of important figures in Black history and culture.
Pies from nowhere : how Georgia Gilmore sustained the Montgomery bus boycott
Dee Romito
jE Romito
Black Lives Matter, Black History, Read Woke, Picture Books, Biographies
Georgia Gilmore was a cook at the National Lunch Company in Montgomery, Alabama. When the bus boycotts broke out in Montgomery after Rosa Parks was arrested, Georgia organized a group of women who cooked and baked to fund-raise for gas and cars to help sustain the boycott. This picture book highlights a hidden figure of the civil rights movement who fueled the bus boycotts and demonstrated that one person can make a real change in her community and beyond
Schomburg : the man who built a library
Carole Boston Weatherford
jBIOGRAPHY Schomburg, Arthur Alfonso
Black Lives Matter, Black History, Read Woke, Picture Books, Biographies
Traces legal clerk Arturo Schomburg's efforts to curate a collection of African books, letters, music, and art.
Whoosh! : Lonnie Johnson's super-soaking stream of inventions
Chris Barton
jBIOGRAPHY Johnson, Lonnie.
Black Lives Matter, Read Woke, Picture Books, Biographies
Chronicles the life and achievements of the NASA engineer and inventor, from his childhood to his accidental invention of the Super Soaker water gun.
Be warned! This book may have you rifling through your childhood toy collection in the best possible way.
- Casey
Ona Judge outwits the Washingtons : an enslaved woman fights for freedom
Gwendolyn Hooks
jBIOGRAPHY Judge, Oney
Black Lives Matter, Black History, Read Woke, Picture Books, Biographies
"Soon after American colonists had won independence from Great Britain, Ona Judge was fighting for her own freedom from one of America's most famous founding fathers, George Washington. George and Martha Washington valued Ona as one of their most skilled and trustworthy slaves, but she would risk everything to achieve complete freedom. Born into slavery at Mount Vernon, Ona seized the opportunity to escape when she was brought to live in the President's Mansion in Philadelphia. Ona fled to New Hampshire and started a new life. But the Washingtons wouldn't give up easily. After her escape, Ona became the focus of a years-long manhunt, led by America's first president. Gwendolyn Hooks' vivid and detailed prose captures the danger, uncertainty, and persistence Ona Judge experienced during and after her heroic escape."--Provided by publisher.
Ona Judge's story is powerful, moving, and for many, may be a suprising new look at our first president.
- Casey
Harlem's little blackbird
Renee Watson
jE Watson
Black Lives Matter, Black History, Read Woke, Picture Books, Biographies
Little leaders : bold women in black history
Vashti Harrison
eBOOK
Black Lives Matter, Black History, Read Woke, Picture Books, Biographies
This is the first installment in Vashti Harrison's lovely series. The biographies are short, illustrations are really cute, and the figures she has chosen to highlight are great to get to know.
- Casey
Josephine : the dazzling life of Josephine Baker
Patricia Hruby Powell
jBIOGRAPHY Baker, Josephine
Black Lives Matter, Black History, Read Woke, Picture Books, Biographies
A portrait of the passionate performer and civil rights advocate Josephine Baker, the woman who worked her way from the slums of St. Louis to the grandest stages in the world. Meticulously researched by both author and artist, Josephine's powerful story of struggle and triumph is an inspiration and a spectacle, just like the legend herself.
Farmer Will Allen and the growing table
Jacqueline Briggs Martin
jE Martin
Black Lives Matter, Read Woke, Picture Books, Biographies
The story of former basketball star and current urban farmer and activist, Will Allen, whose vision of gardening from abandoned urban sites led to a grassroots feeding craze.
Firebird
Misty Copeland
jE Copeland
Black Lives Matter, Read Woke, Picture Books, Biographies
American Ballet Theater soloist Misty Copeland encourages a young ballet student, with brown skin like her own, by telling her that she, too, had to learn basic steps and how to be graceful when she was starting out, and that some day, with practice and dedication, the little girl will become a firebird, too. Includes author's note about dancers who led her to find her voice.
Misty Copeland's picture book autobiography is a triumph. Pair this with the DVD American Ballet Theatre: A History, and/or her long form autobriography, Life in Motion: an unlikely ballerina, to learn more about Misty's career and see her beautiful dancing.
- Casey
Voice of freedom : Fannie Lou Hamer, spirit of the civil rights movement
Carole Boston Weatherford
jBIOGRAPHY Hamer, Fannie Lou
Black Lives Matter, Black History, Read Woke, Picture Books, Biographies
Presents a collage-illustrated treasury of poems and spirituals inspired by the life and work of civil rights advocate Fannie Lou Hamer.
Thurgood
Jonah Winter
eBOOK
Black Lives Matter, Black History, Read Woke, Picture Books, Biographies
"Before Rosa Parks, before Martin Luther King Jr., before the civil rights movement there was Thurgood, fighting for African Americans - and winning. Here is the powerful story of the trailblazer who proved that separate is not equal." --Provided by Publisher.
The golden girls of Rio
Nikkolas Smith
jE Smith
Black Lives Matter, Read Woke, Picture Books, Biographies
The women athletes of the 2016 Summer Olympics captivated the world: Simon Biles, the most decorated American gymnast of all time; Katie Ledecky, who shattered swimming records in multiple events; Michelle Carter, the first American gold medalist in shot put; Simone Manuel, the first African American woman to medal in individual swimming. Their accomplishments amazed us, as did their personal stories of persistence and hard work. [This book] focuses on the paths to glory for these women athletes, how they got their start and rose to meteoric heights in the Rio games. The other swimming and gymnastic teammates are included in the story as well. An inspiring story, bursting with color and action and life, that will make you smile to see these champion athletes as little girls, and to revisit their triumphs in achieving Olympic gold.
The books takes a look back at the 2016 Olympics and the amazing achievements of female Olympians, including Simone Biles and Simone Manuel. These women rocked the world and just might do it again in Tokyo!
- Casey
I, Matthew Henson : polar explorer
Carole Boston Weatherford
jBIOGRAPHY Henson, Matthew Alexander
Black Lives Matter, Black History, Read Woke, Picture Books, Biographies
John Lewis's early life is chronicled here and it is beautifully done. If you haven't read about how he used to preach to his flock, I can't imagine a more poignant time.
- Casey