Last month I reviewed a book produced by Spanish publisher Cuento de Luz, which exclusively uses stone paper, a paper made without bleach or wood pulp. Today we return to Cuento de Luz's innovative books in The Map of Good Memories. Written by Spanish author Fran Nuño and illustrated by Poland born artist Zuzanna Celej, … Continue reading #WorldKidLit Wednesday: The Map of Good Memories
Magnificent Homespun Brown: A Celebration The book presents a series of vignettes following young Black girls as they enjoy all the pleasures that come with the color brown. Whether spending time with family and friends, by themselves, inside the house or enjoying nature, each girl takes notice of the beautiful, changing brown hues around them. … Continue reading #BlackIsBeautiful: Magnificent Homespun Brown
A Story About Afiya “A Story About Afiya,” by Jamaican poet James Berry, is a story about a beautiful, little Black girl named Afiya (which means ‘health' in Swahili). Her dress collects memorabilia from the day. As she dances and moves around the island her dress has the day’s adventure printed on it but by the … Continue reading #BlackIsBeautiful: A Story About Afiya
Punching The Air by Ibi Zoboi and Yusef Salaam, of the Exonerated Five is a book that illustrates how creative expression can be a powerful tool for activism and social change especially for our youth today. Dr. Yusef Salaam is one of five African American and Latino men that were coerced into falsely confessing and … Continue reading #BlackIsBeautiful: Where creative and self expression leads to activism!
Simone Visits The Museum Simone Visits the Museum by Dr. Kelsi Bracmort and illustrated by Takeia Marie, both from the United States, is a beautiful children’s book about a Saturday in the life of a family of Washington D.C. residents. The book is focused on Simone’s first trip to the National Museum of African American History … Continue reading #BlackIsBeautiful: Simone Visits the Museum
Each year, the Black Caucus of the American Library Association (BCALA) along with Biblioboard, honor the best self-published EBooks in fiction and poetry by an African American author in the U.S. BCALA has hosted this award for the last five years. Here are some titles to diversify your EBook collections. Past Fiction Winners (2016) Song … Continue reading #BlackIsBeautiful: And the “E”-ward Goes to…..
Our Blackness is beautiful and diverse, our skin representing a variety of shades and hues, from light to dark and dark to light, a blending of ethnicities and cultures. And yet there are conflicting ideals of beauty, as society pressures communities of color to conform to their expectations. It’s taken us awhile to get to … Continue reading #BlackIsBeautiful: Genesis Begins Again
Picture books can be a wonderful source of stories and information about life in far-off places. The Moose of Ewenki is set in the mountains of Inner Mongolia, one of the few regions* in Northern Asia inhabited by the Indigenous Ewenki people. There, they lead a semi-nomadic way of life, raising reindeer and hunting in … Continue reading #WorldKidLitWednesday: The Moose of Ewenki
To be Black is to embody diversity in lived experiences, culture, skin tones and hair textures. Blackness is an awareness of differences in treatment based on beauty standards that have historically ignored the range of shades and coils of Black people. The following U.S. titles celebrate and honor Black people and teach young children (ages … Continue reading #BlackIsBeautiful: Books that Boost Blackness to Children
Have you heard of the Black Caucus of the American Library Association (BCALA)? This 50 year old organization is the oldest ethnic affiliate of the American Library Association (ALA). Established in 1970, BCALA, was formed to serve as an advocate for the development, promotion, and improvement of library services and resources to the nation’s African … Continue reading #BlackIsBeautiful: Lets Celebrate the Beauty of Blackness with the Black Caucus of the American Library Association
Global Literature in Libraries Initiative 