Children’s Books Recommended for Black History Month
“A Nation’s Hope” By Matt de la Pena, illustrated by Kadir Nelson. Age 6 and up.
While this is a picture book, it deals with historical events including segregation in America and the rise of Adolf Hitler in Nazi Germany. It tells the story of a black American boxer named Joe Louis, whose childhood struggles included not being able to speak until he was 6 years old. In 1938, just before the start of World War II, Joe Louis must fight Max Schmeling, a German boxer who represents what Hitler calls his “master race.” Louis had already lost to Schmeling in 1936. The fight comes at a time in America when blacks and whites live largely separate lives, but Americans unite behind Joe Louis in his historic fight.
“Zora and Me” By Victoria Bond and T.R. Simon Age 10 and up.
The Zora in “Zora and Me” is Zora Neale Hurston, a black writer who went to Howard University in Washington and wrote several famous books, including “Their Eyes Were Watching God.” But this is a fictional story, based on Zora’s childhood in the small town of Eatonville, Florida. In its pages, you see that even as a girl, Zora was a compelling storyteller. One of her tales involves a shape-shifting gator-man. Could it be that this creature is behind a real death in Zora’s normally quiet home town? Zora and her friends aim to figure it out in what turns out to be part ghost story, part historical fiction, part murder mystery. And all fun.
“Freedom Stone” By Jeffrey Kluger Age 9 and up.
Lillie has lived her whole life on Greenfog plantation, along with her mother, father and little brother. When the Confederate army promises freedom to the family of any slave who fights for the South in the Civil War, Lillie’s father goes off to fight for his family’s liberty. But consec sentences starting with but/dn this part of the story doesn’t have a happy ending. Lillie’s father is killed, and the family isn’t freed: The army instead says Lillie’s father was a thief. With the help of a slave who bakes magical bread, Lillie travels back in time to the battle her father fought in. She needs to find the truth and fulfill her father’s goal of freeing the family.
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