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Tuesday, February 27, 2001 By Karen MacPherson, Post-Gazette Staff Writer
The Coretta Scott King Awards are among the most prestigious awards in children's literature. They are also one of the most overlooked literary awards by parents and teachers, who often focus exclusively on the high-wattage Caldecott and Newbery medal winners.
Like the Caldecott and Newbery medals, the King Awards are bestowed by the American Library Association. While it's true the King Awards spotlight African-American authors and illustrators, the winners' work is of interest to a wide range of young readers, whatever their race.
As Black History Month comes to a close, it's apt to take a closer look at this year's King Awards winners. (Like the Caldecott and Newbery medals, the King Awards usually have a top winner and several runners-up, called "honor books.")
Illustrator Bryan Collier was the big winner with "Uptown" (Henry Holt, $15.95), a book he both wrote and illustrated, which won the King Illustrator Award this year. In addition, "Freedom River" (Jump at the Sun/Hyperion, $14.99), a book illustrated by Collier and written by Doreen Rappaport, won a King Illustrator Honor Award.
Collier, who began painting when he was 15, combines watercolor and collage to produce images that seem to leap off the pages. This technique is particularly effective in "Uptown," Collier's love song to Harlem, where he works as the director of the Harlem Hospital's Horizons Art Studio for children and their parents.
"Uptown" shows us the sights and sounds of Harlem through a boy's eyes. Uptown is a place where "chicken and waffles are served around the clock," where "the vibe is always jumping as people bounce to their own rhythms." Children will enjoy this upbeat tour through one of the nation's oldest African-American enclaves. (Ages 4-7.)
Collier's illustrations in "Freedom River" have a deeper tone, matching the spirit of this true story about a former slave named John Parker who risked his life hundreds of times to bring slaves across the Ohio River from Kentucky to freedom.
Rappaport focuses on one of Parker's rescues, that of a couple and their infant child. She has a remarkable story to tell, and she lets the story flow, gathering it up into a dramatic denouement. Collier's illustrations complement the story. (Ages 5-8.)
After two of her previous books were selected Author Honor Books, Jacqueline Woodson finally won the top King Author Award for her novel, "Miracle's Boys" (Putnam, $15.99).
Set in Harlem, "Miracle's Boys" is a riveting story that details the lives of three boys after their parents die.
Ty'ree, the eldest, jettisons plans for college so he can work and support his two brothers, Charlie and Lafayette. Being poor is hard, but what Lafayette, the youngest brother, hates most is the change in Charlie since he came back from a stint at Rahway School for Boys, where he was sent after robbing a store.
It takes an act of violence to force the brothers to confront the emotional wall that is dividing them. Until they can speak freely with one another about their pain and their losses, the brothers will never be free to grow together as a family.
Woodson tells the tale through Lafayette, and this first-person device effectively grabs the attention and hearts of readers. (Ages 8-12.)
Virgie insists that she's strong enough, old enough AND smart enough to go to school with her brothers. For years, however, her parents said no. Finally, one day they agree to let her go to school, and from then on, Virgie knows her life will never be the same.
In "Virgie Goes to School With Us Boys" (Simon & Schuster, $16), author Elizabeth Fitzgerald Howard reaches back to her family history for a tale that highlights a young girl's determination to learn. Like Virgie and her brothers, Howard's grandfather and his siblings (including the real-life Virgie) lived on a farm in Tennessee and walked through the woods to the town of Jonesborough, where Quakers had founded a school for African-American children.
E.B. Lewis' illustrations won a King Illustrator Honor Award for "Virgie Goes to School With Us Boys." Lewis, who previously won a King honor for illustrations for "The Bat Boy and His Violin," is a master artist whose watercolors are both beautiful and expressive. His portrait of Virgie is a classic. (Ages 5-8.)
To Andrea Davis Pinkney, the African-American civil rights struggle was an integral part of her childhood, as she watched her parents march and work for equality for all Americans.
Now Pinkney, an accomplished children's author, puts a spotlight on 10 African-American women whose lives are testaments to their belief that all people are created equal. Chosen as the one King Author Honor Award book this year, "Let It Shine: Stories of Black Women Freedom Fighters" (Harcourt, $20) offers young readers plenty of both information and inspiration.
In "Let It Shine," illustrated by Stephen Alcorn, Pinkney tells the stories of such women as Sojourner Truth, Mary McLeod Bethune, Rosa Parks and Shirley Chisholm. In clear, uncluttered prose, Pinkney gives facts about each woman's life and contribution to African-American history. Young readers will find their stories of courage hard to resist. (Ages 9-12.)
Sojourner Truth called herself a "self-made woman," someone who had created a new being from the remnants of her former slave self. Born a slave girl named Isabella, Truth won her freedom but was forced to leave her children. After her former master sold her son, Truth took him to court -- and won.
But, as author Anne Rockwell reveals in "Only Passing Through: The Story of Sojourner Truth" (Knopf, $16.95), Truth's life really began in 1843. That's when a vivid dream convinced her to change her name and to walk the land spreading the word about the horrors of slavery. Her message helped whip up antislavery support in many places.
Rockwell doesn't spare details in her moving story of Truth's early years, helping readers understand the physical and emotional suffering endured by Truth and other slaves. The story is underscored by the emotionally intense illustrations by R. Gregory Christie, who won a King Illustrator Honor Award for "Only Passing Through." (Ages 8-12.)
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