Black History Month?

Wasn't that last month? lol

Here's a round-up of picture books we received recently from Harper Collins!

Bronzeville Boys and Girls
by Gwendolyn Brooks
4 stars

Not a huge fan of the style of illustrations, but the poems are great.  The "everyday-ness" of childhood joys... and fears... and concerns.  I liked this collection.

My Name is Truth: The Life of Sojourner Truth
by Ann Turner
3 stars

*shrugs* This was okay.  I thought the Author's Note was a lot more interesting than the text, but I could see using it in a classroom setting.

Harlem Renaissance Party
by Faith Ringgold
2.5 stars

This one was kind of just weird.  A white kid and his black uncle go to a party (in the 1920s?) and meet EVERYone from the Harlem Renaissance.  The narrative is really clumsy and it's not at all clear what's going on.  The GoodReads description told me more about what was going on than reading the book did.  I like the idea, but not the execution.
The glossary at the back is pretty cool though.

Mahalia Jackson: Walking with Kings and Queens
by Nina Nolan
4.5 stars

I was totally unfamiliar with Mahalia Jackson before reading this one.  The narrative is both smooth and informative (where the Sojourner Truth one above didn't necessarily feel like it was either... I read this one thinking "See, if only that one has been written like this one!").  And of course, after reading it I had to go looking for a clip of her singing (what did we do before Google and YouTube?).

So, here you go-- Mahalia Jackson singing What a Friend We have in Jesus

Kizzy Ann Stamps by Jeri Watts

5 stars
YF/JF

I really loved this book about integration.

Kizzy is going to be one of the first black kids to attend the white school.  Her teacher tells her to write to the woman who will be her new teacher, and so she does, because EVERYBODY does what that teacher says. :)

I loved the format-- nearly the entire book is Kizzy's letters.  You have to infer what the teacher says in response until the very end, when one letter from the teacher is included.

Great story about integration, being yourself, and learning how to shine.

Boo's review:
5 stars

Basically it's a collection of letters she wrote to her teacher.  It was back when white people could still treat black people badly.  There were other black kids in her class-- she used to go to a black school, but they could be in the white school now.

[Mommy note:  Boo got really in to black history last school year, so I was hoping she'd like this one.]

Black History Month

(Copies provided for review by publisher)

Brick by Brick
by Charles R Smith Jr

A look at how the White House was built (originally) by slave labor... and how some of those slaves eventually were able to buy freedom with the wages from the buillding... once they actually got their wages.  It emphasizes a lot that the slave owners took the pay for what the slaves did.  Interesting book, and Boo enjoyed it, but all really over the heads of my younger ones.  Great illustrations.

Nelson Mandela
by Kadir Nelson

AMAZING paintings.  Good text for kids that are a little bit older.  Boo liked it.  Again, a bit over the heads of my younger ones.  A look at the life of Nelson Mandela.

In the Land of Milk and Honey
by Joyce Carol Thomas

I think this may have been my favorite of the Black History Month books we received.  Great pictures, good text, happy story.  All about moving to California for better opportunities.

I've Seen the Promised Land: The Life of Martin Luther King Jr
by Walter Dean Myers

An interesting look at the life of MLK Jr.  Interesting pictures.

We decided to donate all of these titles to Boo's teacher for classroom use.  :)