Kelly Starling Lyons attended the Million Man March in Washington, D.C., as a journalist 12 years ago, and one image stuck in her mind.

A little girl, her eyes shining, smiled as she held her father's hand, walking together in the sea of African-American men converging at the Lincoln Memorial. "She was like a little princess," Ms. Lyons said.

Ms. Lyons, a Pittsburgh native who lives in Raleigh, N.C., has turned that image into a new children's book titled, "One Million Men and Me," which tells the wonder of the march through the little girl's eyes.

The picture book not only tells about that piece of history on Oct. 16, 1995, but also about a special bonding experience between a little girl and her dad.

"The really beautiful thing about children's literature is you can take important moments in history and write about it in a way that appeals to children and engages them."

While she was writing the book, her second one, she would ask children about the Million Man March, and they would say things like, "Is that when Dr. King was there?"

"Even though it was in 1995, to them, it was a long time ago. Some teachers aren't telling kids about that moment in history. I hope it will inspire parents, teachers to talk about the largest gathering of African-American men in Washington."

As a student at Beechview Elementary School and Brashear High School, Ms. Lyons was a voracious reader -- but she never saw African-American children in the books she read. "I didn't question it. I fell in love with books -- 'Miss Nelson is Missing.' 'A Wrinkle in Time.' I wasn't able to process why we weren't in the book."

The number of picture books featuring African-American children is growing, but "there is still a lot of room for more voices. We need to do a better job of letting parents know about literature that speaks to all children.

"Just because a book has an African-American character, it doesn't mean it is not of value for children of other races. The feelings are universal."