Celebrating Black History Month: Recommended Books

Celebrating Black History Month at The Holiday Zone

""Success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which were overcome while trying to succeed. . . ."
--Booker T. Washington

Recommended Books for Black History Month

African-American Poets and Poetry
Miscellaneous Resources
Slavery
The Underground Railroad
Segregation and the Civil Rights Movement

African-American Poets and Poetry

Bronzeville Boys and Girls (Pre-K, 1-3, 4-6)
written by Gwendolyn Brooks
(Click here to sample Brooks' children's poetry.)
Pulitizer Prize-winning author Gwendolyn Brooks compiles in this volume poems she has written for her own children and grandchildren. Poems focus on the lives of minority children growing up in the city.

The Book of American Negro Poetry (7-8, 9-12, adult)
edited by James Weldon Johnson
Johnson's anthology, first published in 1922, was one of the first works that brought national attention to the poetry of African-American authors. Today, more than seventy-five years after its publication, this anthology still stands as one of the greatest contributions to African-American literature in the twentieth century.

The Creation (Pre-K; 1-3; 4-6)

written by James Weldon Johnson; illustrated by James W. Ransome
(Click here to read Weldon's "The Creation" at The Academy of American Poets' Online Exhibit.)
Ransome beautifully illustrates "The Creation" which Johnson included in God's Trombones; because of the picture-book format, even the youngest listeners can enjoy this narrative poem.

God's Trombones: Seven Negro Sermons in Verse (7-8; 9-12; adult)
James Weldon Johnson
(Click here to read Weldon's "The Creation" at The Academy of American Poets' Online Exhibit.)
God's Trombones features seven sermons from African-American poet and educator James Weldon Johnson written in his unforgettable narrative style.

The Harlem Renaissance (7-8; 9-12)
written by Veronica Chambers
Part of the African-American achievers series, this work examines not only the key figures in the Harlem Renaissance, but also the social and political forces behind the movement.

Pass it On: African American Poetry for Children (Pre-K, 1-3, 4-6)
compiled by Wade Hudson
Hudson assembles in this richly-illustrated volume nineteen poems written by African-American poets which reflect unique aspects of growing up Black in the United States.

Phyllis Wheatley: First African-American Poet (Pre-K; 1-3)
written by Carol Greene; illustrated by Steven Dobson
Part of the Rookie Biographies series, this amply-illustrated work recounts the life of Phyllis Wheatley and includes a few of her works.

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Miscellaneous

The African-American Child's Heritage Cookbook (all ages)
written by Vannessa Roberts Parham
Cookbook includes dozens of ethnic recipes with simple directions that children can follow intermingled with an assortment of African-American historical information.

How Sweet the Sound: African-American Songs for Children (all ages)
compiled by Wade Hudson
This book and accompanying cassette present an overview of the African-American musical heritage, from traditionals African folk tunes to Negro spirituals to the jazz sounds of the twentieth century. Also included are listings of other recommended books and recordings.

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Slavery

Breaking the Chains (4-6, 7-8)
by William Loren Katz
Katz draws from letters, diaries, and other personal slave writings to reveal the active roles many slaves took in bringing about their own emancipation.

The Dred Scott Decision (4-6)

Brendan January
(also available in hardback)
A volume in the Cornestones of Freedom series, this book examines the 1857 Supreme Court ruling in its political and historical context.

Freedom's Sons: The True Story of the Amistad Mutiny (4-6; 7-8)
written by Suzanne Jurmain
Jurmain masterfully recreates the 1839 story of mutiny aboard the slave-ship Amistad, the trials of the fifty-three slaves involved in the mutiny, and their eventual freedom.

My Name is Not Angelica (4-6; 7-8)

Scott O'Dell
Newbery-medalist Scott O'Dell relates in this, his final work, through the eyes of sixteen-year old Raisha the events that led up to the great slave rebellion in 1733.

Now Let Me Fly: The Story of a Slave Family (1-3)
written and illustrated by Dolores Johnson
Johnson's tells her story through the voice of Minna, a young African girl, being kidnapped from her African home and sold as a slave in the United States. As the story continues, Minna grows up, marries, and bears four children. Minna is separated from her husband when he is sold and from two of her children when they escape to slavery. In this work, Johnson tactfully but accurately relates the hardships that many slaves endured.

Our Song, Our Toil (4-6, 7-8)
written and illustrated by Michele Stepto
Stepto masterfully weaves together excerpts from slave autobiographies and other historical documents to relate the story of slavery in America.

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(ages 9-14)	(ages 9-14)	(ages 10 and up)	(ages 10 and up)	(ages 12 and up)	(teens & adults)	(teens & adults)	(teens & adults)

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The Underground Railroad

The Drinking Gourd: A Story of the Underground Railroad (Pre-K, 1-3)

written by F. N. Monjo; illustrated by Fred Brenner
(also available in hardback and on audio cassette)
Young readers identify quickly with the hero of this book, the young son of an Underground Railroad conductor, as his quick-thinking saves a family of runaway slaves.

Escape from Slavery: Five Journeys to Freedom (4-6, 7-8)
written by Doreen Rappaport
Rappaport relates factual accounts of five slaves who escaped to freedom via the Underground Railroad shortly before the civil war

Follow the Drinking Gourd (Pre-K, 1-3)
written and illustrated by Jeanette Winter
(also available in hardback)
In this beautifully-illustrated volume, Peg Leg Joe, an old sailor, travels from plantation to plantation, teaching slaves how to use the Big Dipper (code name "The Drinking Gourd") to navigate their ways North and to freedom. Also included are music and complete lyrics to the the theme song of the Underground Railroad, "Follow the Drinking Gourd."

If You Traveled On the Underground Railroad (4-6)
written by Ellen Levine
A part of Scholastic's If You Lived series, this book uses a question-and-answer format to explain what the Underground Railroad was and how it helped slaves prior to the Civil War.

Journey to Freedom: A Story of the Underground Railroad (1-3, 4-6)
written by Courtni C. Wright; illustrated by Gershom Griffith
Travel along with eight-year-old Joshua and his family as Harriet Tubman leads them to freedom via the Underground Railroad.

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(ages 8-12)	(ages 8-12)	(ages 8-12)	(ages 9-12)	(ages 9-12)	(ages 9-14)	(ages 10 and up)

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Segregation and the Civil Rights Struggle

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(ages 9-14)	(ages 9-14)	(ages 10 and up)	(ages 10 and up)	(ages 10 and up)	(ages 10 and up)	(ages 10 and up)

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