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 A child’s
garden of African-American stories
By Karen MacPherson, Post-Gazette
Staff Writer
The celebration of Black History Month has become a February staple at many schools and organizations. To offer fresh inspiration for those celebrations, here are some wonderful new children’s books highlighting African-American culture, traditions and history:  Brenda has some of
the thickest, wildest, liveliest hair around. But to her Uncle Mordecai, Brenda’s willful hair is a symbol of
the true essence of being an African-American, an essence that even slavery couldn’t
beat out.
In "Nappy Hair" (Dragonfly, $6.99), author Carolivia Herron offers a text that is a tour de force, blending humor and history in an ebullient narrative. Herron also uses the "call and response" tradition to great effect here. The illustrations by Joe Cepeda match Herron’s text in their energy and color. Note: This book has sparked some controversy, as African-American parents in one school felt it made fun of black hair. But Herron, who is African-American, has said she meant it as a celebration of black hair. Author/illustrator Ann Grifalconi has taken the
childhood longing of jazz singer Billie Holiday for her often-absent musician father and
fashioned a marvelous new picture book in "Tiny’s Hat" (HarperCollins,
$14.95).
Grifalconi, who won a Caldecott Honor for "The Village of Round and Square Houses," uses her lyrical text and striking pastel illustrations to show how Holiday turned her sadness into a unique talent for blues and jazz singing. Although this book is aimed at children aged 5 to 7, Grifalconi has combined her words and art so well that even preschoolers should be able to get the sense of how feelings can translate into music. Ella Sheppard Moore was born a slave in Tennessee in
1851. At the end of the Civil War, however, Moore — already celebrated for her
beautiful voice — determined that she would use her new freedom to earn a college
degree at a school for freed slaves, the Fisk School (now Fisk University).
Moore hadn’t been at Fisk long before students were told that the school would have to close its doors unless it could raise more money. Determined to keep the school alive, Moore and a fellow group of music students decided that they would try to use their singing to earn the money. But their singing tour was a disaster until they stopped singing popular songs of the day and instead introduced spirituals to a new audience. In "A Band of Angels" (Atheneum, $16), author Deborah Hopkinson and artist Raul Colon team up to offer the true and riveting story of the Jubilee Singers, whose talent and perseverance did indeed help Fisk stay alive and eventually thrive. (Ages 5-9) Mama Pearl is making her fabled candied sweet
potatoes. But she needs some of Miz Callie’s hand-churned butter, and tells Little
Cliff to go up the street and come back "lickety-split" with it.
Little Cliff eventually accomplishes the chore, but only after he has a series of visits with neighbors who want to give him their own special ingredients for those sweet potatoes. By the time the sweet potatoes are cooked, Mama Pearl’s got a house full of company, as all the neighbors join Little Cliff to see how the dish turned out. In "Little Cliff and the Porch People" (Dial, $15.99), author Clifton Taulbert reaches back to his Mississippi Delta childhood to tell a sunny tale. Taulbert, who has won critical acclaim for his adult memoirs, has that rare talent for seeing the world through the eyes of a child. The watercolors by E.B. Lewis are lovely, evocative and very human. Our first glimpse of Little Cliff, as he sits on his front porch with his face turned up to the sun, is a singular portrait of carefree childhood, while Lewis’ depiction of the neighborhood realistically portrays its low-income status while showing how it is rich in love. (Ages 4-7) Take the sparkling prose of Julius Lester and
combine it with the vividly colored illustrations of Joe Cepeda and you’ve got a
winner in "What a Truly Cool World" (Scholastic, $15.95).
In this fast-paced, funny book, Lester re-creates the story of creation, giving God some extra help in the form of his wife Irene God, his secretary Bruce, and Shaniqua, "the angel in charge of everybody’s business." Lester’s breezy text might seem too irreverent for some people, but for most of us it is an entertaining new twist on the creation story. (Ages 5-9) Lester first gained fame years ago with a much more
serious, groundbreaking work, "To Be a Slave," awarded a Newbery Honor in 1969;
the book has just been re-released by Dial in a $20, 30th anniversary edition that also
features the original dramatic artwork by Tom Feelings. Through meticulous, exhaustive
research, Lester identified accounts by slaves of their lives of backbreaking toil,
whippings and heartbreak. (Ages 10 up)
Author Clinton Cox fleshes out an often overlooked
bit of African-American history in "Come All You Brave Soldiers: Blacks in The
Revolutionary War" (Scholastic, $15.95).
More than 5,000 African-Americans, some free and some slaves, enlisted in the Continental Army and were an important part of the American fight for independence. Cox ably details the stories of these brave African-Americans. Then, in a brief epilogue, Cox jolts the reader by telling the rest of the story — how many of the African-American soldiers — even those decorated as heroes — were forced into slavery. It’s a sobering ending. (Ages 10 up) Three other new books focus on the Underground Railroad: "The Last Safe House" (Kids Can Press,
$9.95) weaves together history and fiction in an unusual way to create a suspenseful tale
of how the Underground Railroad worked in Canada. Author Barbara Greenwood tells the story
of how a Canadian girl named Johanna becomes friends with an escaped American slave named
Eliza, who is being hidden by Johanna’s family. Illustrations by Heather Collins add
further drama. (Ages 8-12)
Ann Maria Weems never thought she’d be brave
enough to try to escape slavery. One day, however, her world was torn apart as her owners
shipped her away from her family. Weems determines to escape, but, before she can get to
freedom, she must learn to trust a white man and leave behind the man she wants to marry.
This is the stuff of good fiction, but "Stealing Freedom" (Knopf, $17) is based
on Weems’ true story. Author Elisa Carbone has taken the bare facts of Weems’
flight to freedom and created a book that’s difficult to put down. (Ages 12 up)
In "Escape From Slavery" (HarperTrophy,
$4.95), author Doreen Rappaport portrays five "journeys to freedom" by
courageous Africans Americans. All of the stories, most heart-stoppingly dramatic, are
based on historical accounts . (Ages 9-12)
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