Picture Books
- The Little Mermaid
The Little Mermaid
by Jerry Pinkney
$18.99*ships in 7-10 business days*
Melody, the littlest sea princess, is not content just to sing in the choir of mermaids like her sisters. She is an explorer who wonders about what lies above the water's surface . . . especially the young girl she has spied from a distance. To meet her requires a terrible sacrifice: she trades her beautiful voice for a potion that gives her legs, so that she may live on land instead. It seems like a dream come true at first. But when trouble stirs beneath the ocean, Melody faces another impossible choice -- stay with her friend, or reclaim her true identity and save her family.
- The 5 O'Clock Band
The 5 O'Clock Band
by Troy Andrews
$17.99Take a tour of New Orleans with Grammy-nominated musician Troy Andrews and renowned illustrator Bryan Collier in this companion to the Caldecott Honor and Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award winner Trombone Shorty
After letting his band down by missing rehearsal, a boy called Shorty has some serious questions about what it means to be a leader. He hits the streets of New Orleans to find some answers and to soak up some inspiration. Along the way, he’ll meet people who have their own special wisdom to share about being an artist, a leader, and a friend. - My Rainy Day Rocket Ship
My Rainy Day Rocket Ship
by Markette Sheppard
$17.99*ships in 7-10 business days
Rainy summer days are no match for a little astronaut who builds the perfect rocket ship for an indoor space adventure to another galaxy, where the sky is his only limit!
A stormy afternoon and an order from Mom to stay inside are no match for this little dreamer, who uses everyday household items a rocket chair, a cardboard box, an old dish rag, and a super-duper imagination - to whip up a trip around the universe he won't soon forget.
My Rainy Day Rocket Ship is a high-spirited, engaging salute to the imagination of Black boys who use their beautiful minds to transform the mundane into the extraordinary, dream out loud, and boldly go where their sky is the only limit.
- Schomburg: The Man Who Built A Library
Schomburg: The Man Who Built A Library
by Carole Boston Weatherford
$18.99*Ships in 7-10 Business Days*
In luminous paintings and arresting poems, two of children’s literature’s top African-American scholars track Arturo Schomburg’s quest to correct history.
Where is our historian to give us our side? Arturo asked.
Amid the scholars, poets, authors, and artists of the Harlem Renaissance stood an Afro–Puerto Rican named Arturo Schomburg. This law clerk’s life’s passion was to collect books, letters, music, and art from Africa and the African diaspora and bring to light the achievements of people of African descent through the ages. When Schomburg’s collection became so big it began to overflow his house (and his wife threatened to mutiny), he turned to the New York Public Library, where he created and curated a collection that was the cornerstone of a new Negro Division. A century later, his groundbreaking collection, known as the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, has become a beacon to scholars all over the world. - Firebird
Firebird
by Misty Copeland
$17.99American Ballet Theatre Soloist Misty Copeland tells the inspiring story of a budding ballet star.In her debut picture book, Misty Copeland tells the story of a young girl--an every girl--whose confidence is fragile and who is questioning her own ability to reach the heights that Misty has reached. Misty encourages this young girl's faith in herself and shows her exactly how, through hard work and dedication, she too can become Firebird.
Lyrical and affecting text paired with bold, striking illustrations that are some of Caldecott Honoree Christopher Myers's best work, makes Firebird perfect for aspiring ballerinas everywhere. - Bedtime for Sweet Creatures
Bedtime for Sweet Creatures
by Nikki Grimes
$17.99Nikki Grimes, Coretta Scott King Award winning author, and illustrator Elizabeth Zunon's latest children's masterpiece creates an imagination-fueled journey to bedtime.
Your bookshelf is noisy with stories.
"Which one?" I ask.
You point, frozen like a fawn
until you hear "Once upon a time."It's bedtime, but Mommy's little boy is not sleepy.
He growls like a bear, he questions like an owl, he tosses his mane like a lion. He hunts for water like a sly wolf, and hides like a snake.
- Kamala and Maya's Big Idea
Kamala and Maya's Big Idea
by Meena Harris
Sold out*Ships in 7-10 Business Days*
One day, Kamala and Maya had an idea. A big idea: they would turn their empty apartment courtyard into a playground!
This is the uplifting tale of how the author's aunt and mother first learned to persevere in the face of disappointment and turned a dream into reality. This is a story of children's ability to make a difference and of a community coming together to transform their neighborhood.
- Young Gifted and Black
Young Gifted and Black
by Jamia Wilson
$23.99Meet 52 icons of color from the past and present in this celebration of inspirational achievement- a collection of stories about changemakers to encourage, inspire, and empower the next generation of changemakers. Jamia Wilson has carefully curated this range of black icons and the book is stylishly brought together by Andrea Pippins' colorful and celebratory illustrations.
- Radiant Child: The Story of Young Artist Jean-Michel Basquiat
Radiant Child: The Story of Young Artist Jean-Michel Basquiat
by Javaka Steptoe
$18.99*ships in 7-10 business days*
Winner of the Randolph Caldecott Medal and the Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award
Jean-Michel Basquiat and his unique, collage-style paintings rocketed to fame in the 1980s as a cultural phenomenon unlike anything the art world had ever seen. But before that, he was a little boy who saw art everywhere: in poetry books and museums, in games and in the words that we speak, and in the pulsing energy of New York City. Now, award-winning illustrator Javaka Steptoe's vivid text and bold artwork echoing Basquiat's own introduce young readers to the powerful message that art doesn't always have to be neat or clean--and definitely not inside the lines--to be beautiful. - The Chicken-Chasing Queen of Lamer County
The Chicken-Chasing Queen of Lamer County
by Janice N. Harrington
$18.99*Ships in 7-10 Business Days*
Meet one smart chicken chaser. She can catch any chicken on her grandmother's farm except one - the elusive Miss Hen. In a hilarious battle of wits, the spirited narrator regales readers with her campaign to catch Miss Hen, but this chicken is "fast as a mosquito buzzing and quick as a fleabite." Our chicken chaser has her mind set on winning, until she discovers that sometimes it's just as satisfying not to catch chickens as it is to catch them.
- Catch that Chicken!
Catch that Chicken!
by Atinuke
$17.99Lami is the best chicken catcher in the whole village. Her sister may be speedy at spelling, her friend fast at braiding hair, and her brother brave with bulls, but when it comes to chickens, nobody is faster or braver than Lami. That is, until the day when Lami chases a little too fast, up the baobab tree, and reaches a little too far…ow! How can she catch chickens with an ankle that’s puffed up like an angry lizard? Could it be, as Nana Nadia says, that quick thinking is more important than quick running? Award-winning author Atinuke celebrates Nigerian village life in a story vibrantly illustrated by Angela Brooksbank with a universal message at its heart.
- Me & Mama
Me & Mama
by Cozbi A Cabrera
$17.99*Ships in 7-10 Business Days*
On a rainy day when the house smells like cinnamon and Papa and Luca are still asleep, when the clouds are wearing shadows and the wind paints the window with beads of water, I want to be everywhere Mama is.
With lyrical prose and a tender touch, the Caldecott and Coretta Scott King Honor Book Mama and Me is an ode to the strength of the bond between a mother and a daughter as they spend a rainy day together. - If Dominican Were a Color
If Dominican Were a Color
by Sili Recio
$17.99The colors of Hispaniola burst into life in this striking, evocative debut picture book that celebrates the joy of being Dominican.
If Dominican were a color, it would be the sunset in the sky, blazing red and burning bright.
If Dominican were a color, it’d be the roar of the ocean in the deep of the night,
With the moon beaming down rays of sheer delight.
The palette of the Dominican Republic is exuberant and unlimited. Maiz comes up amarillo, the blue-black of dreams washes over sandy shores, and people’s skin can be the shade of cinnamon in cocoa or of mahogany. This exuberantly colorful, softly rhyming picture book is a gentle reminder that a nation’s range of hues is as wide as nature’s itself.Contributor Bio(s) - The 1619 Project: Born on the Water
The 1619 Project: Born on the Water
by Nikole Hannah-Jones and Renée Watson
$18.99The 1619 Project’s lyrical picture book in verse chronicles the consequences of slavery and the history of Black resistance in the United States, thoughtfully rendered by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones and Newbery honor-winning author Renée Watson.
A young student receives a family tree assignment in school, but she can only trace back three generations. Grandma gathers the whole family, and the student learns that 400 years ago, in 1619, their ancestors were stolen and brought to America by white slave traders.
But before that, they had a home, a land, a language. She learns how the people said to be born on the water survived.
And the people planted dreams and hope,
willed themselves to keep
living, living.
And the people learned new words
for love
for friend
for family
for joy
for grow
for home.
With powerful verse and striking illustrations by Nikkolas Smith, Born on the Water provides a pathway for readers of all ages to reflect on the origins of American identity. - Little Dreamers: Visionary Women Around the World
Little Dreamers: Visionary Women Around the World
by Vashti Harrison
$7.99Featuring the true stories of 35 women creators, ranging from writers to inventors, artists to scientists, Little Dreamers: Visionary Women Around the World inspires as it educates. Readers will meet trailblazing women like Mary Blair, an American modernist painter who had a major influence on how color was used in early animated films, actor/inventor Hedy Lamarr, environmental activist Wangari Maathai, architect Zaha Hadid, filmmaker Maya Deren, and physicist Chien-Shiung Wu. Some names are known, some are not, but all of the women had a lasting effect on the fields they worked in.
- Tallulah the Tooth Fairy CEO and the Corona Challenge
Tallulah the Tooth Fairy CEO and the Corona Challenge
$16.95As the boss of all tooth fairies, Tallulah the Tooth Fairy CEO is used to handling huge responsibilities, but when a global pandemic threatens to halt all business operations at Teeth Titans, Incorporated, this fashionable fairy must figure out a safe way to collect lost teeth. How is a fairy supposed to make house calls when the Coronavirus has everyone stuck at home?
- Octopus Stew
Octopus Stew
by Eric Velasquez
$17.99*Ships in 7-10 Business Days*
The octopus Grandma is cooking has grown to titanic proportions. “¡Tenga cuidado!” Ramsey shouts. “Be careful!” But it’s too late. The octopus traps Grandma!
Ramsey uses both art and intellect to free his beloved abuela.
Then the story takes a surprising twist. And it can be read two ways. Open the fold-out pages to find Ramsey telling a story to his family. Keep the pages folded, and Ramsey’s octopus adventure is real.
This beautifully illustrated picture book, drawn from the author’s childhood memories, celebrates creativity, heroism, family, grandmothers, grandsons, Puerto Rican food, Latinx culture and more.
With an author’s note and the Velasquez family recipe for Octopus Stew! - He's Got the Whole World in His Hands
He's Got the Whole World in His Hands
by Kadir Nelson
Sold out*Ships in 7-10 Business Days*
What began as a spiritual has developed into one of America’s best-known songs, and now for the first time it appears as a picture book, masterfully created by award-winning artist Kadir Nelson.Through sublime landscapes and warm images of a boy and his family, Kadir has created a dazzling, intimate interpretation, one that rejoices in the connectedness of people and nature.
- Bedtime Bonnet
Bedtime Bonnet
by Nancy Redd
$18.99In my family, when the sun goes down, our hair goes up!
My brother slips a durag over his locs.
Sis swirls her hair in a wrap around her head.
Daddy covers his black waves with a cap.
Mama gathers her corkscrew curls in a scarf.
I always wear a bonnet over my braids, but tonight I can’t find it anywhere!
Bedtime Bonnet gives readers a heartwarming peek into quintessential Black nighttime hair traditions and celebrates the love between all the members of this close-knit, multi-generational family. - Many Shapes of Clay: A Story of Healing
Many Shapes of Clay: A Story of Healing
by Kenesha Sneed
$16.95*ships in 7-10 business days*
Eisha lives with her mother, a ceramic artist, who helps her make a special shape out of a piece of clay. The shape reminds Eisha of her father, of the ocean, of a lemon. As Eisha goes through her neighborhood doing errands with her mother, the piece of clay hardens and then shatters into pieces when Eisha taps it. In poignant and powerful words and pictures.
Kenesha Sneed shows how Eisha learns to live with the sense of loss and of the joyful power of making something new out of what is left behind. Illustrated with Sneed’s bold colors, graphic lines, and gestural textures, the book celebrates diversity and shares a gentle message that we all have the ability to heal and create.
- Change Sings: A Children's Anthem
Change Sings: A Children's Anthem
by Amanda Gorman
$18.99"I can hear change humming
In its loudest, proudest song.
I don't fear change coming,
And so I sing along."
In this stirring, much-anticipated picture book by inaugural Youth Poet Laureate and activist Amanda Gorman, anything is possible when our voices join together. As a young girl leads a cast of characters on a musical journey, they learn that they have the power to make changes-big or small-in the world, in their communities, and in most importantly, in themselves. - Tar Beach
Tar Beach
by Faith Ringgold
$18.99Picture Book
Ringgold recounts the dream adventure of eight-year-old Cassie Louise Lightfoot, who flies above her apartment-building rooftop, the 'tar beach' of the title, looking down on 1939 Harlem.
Part autobiographical, part fictional, this allegorical tale sparkles with symbolic and historical references central to African-American culture. The spectacular artwork resonates with color and texture. Children will delight in the universal dream of mastering one's world by flying over it. - All Because You Matter
All Because You Matter
by Tami Charles
$17.99*ships/available for pickup in 7-10 business days
A lyrical, heart-lifting love letter to Black and Brown children everywhere reminds them how much they matter, that they have always mattered and they always will.
- Gordon Parks: How the Photographer Captured Black and White America
Gordon Parks: How the Photographer Captured Black and White America
by Carole Boston Weatherford
$16.99*Ships in 7-10 Business Days*
His white teacher tells her all-black class, You'll all wind up porters and waiters. What did she know? Gordon Parks is most famous for being the first black director in Hollywood. But before he made movies and wrote books, he was a poor African American looking for work. When he bought a camera, his life changed forever. He taught himself how to take pictures and before long, people noticed. His success as a fashion photographer landed him a job working for the government. In Washington DC, Gordon went looking for a subject, but what he found was segregation. He and others were treated differently because of the color of their skin. Gordon wanted to take a stand against the racism he observed. With his camera in hand, he found a way. Told through lyrical verse and atmospheric art, this is the story of how, with a single photograph, a self-taught artist got America to take notice.
- Black is a Rainbow Color
Black is a Rainbow Color
by Angela Joy
$17.99*ships/available for pickup in 7-10 business days
Red is a rainbow color.
Green sits next to blue.
Yellow, orange, violet, indigo,
They are rainbow colors, too, but
My color is black . . .
And there’s no BLACK in rainbows.
From the wheels on a bicycle to the robe on Thurgood Marshall's back, Black surrounds our lives. It is a color to simply describe some of our favorite things, but it also evokes a deeper sentiment about the incredible people who helped change the world and a community that continues to grow and survive. - Your Name Is a Song
Your Name Is a Song
by Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow
$16.99Frustrated by a day full of teachers and classmates mispronouncing her beautiful name, a little girl tells her mother she never wants to come back to school. In response, the girl's mother teaches her about the musicality of African, Asian, Black-American, Latinx, and Middle Eastern names on their lyrical walk home through the city. Empowered by this newfound understanding, the young girl is ready to return the next day to share her knowledge with her class. Your Name is a Song is a celebration to remind all of us about the beauty, history, and magic behind names.
- Voice of Freedom: Fannie Lou Hamer: The Spirit of the Civil Rights Movement
Voice of Freedom: Fannie Lou Hamer: The Spirit of the Civil Rights Movement
by Carole Boston Weatherford
$18.99Despite fierce prejudice and abuse, even being beaten to within an inch of her life, Fannie Lou Hamer was a champion of civil rights from the 1950s until her death in 1977. Integral to the Freedom Summer of 1964, Ms. Hamer gave a speech at the Democratic National Convention that, despite President Johnson’s interference, aired on national TV news and spurred the nation to support the Freedom Democrats. Featuring vibrant mixed-media art full of intricate detail, Voice of Freedom celebrates Fannie Lou Hamer’s life and legacy with a message of hope, determination, and strength.
- The Thing About Bees: A Love Letter
The Thing About Bees: A Love Letter
by Shabazz Larkin
$18.99Sometimes bees can be a bit rude. They fly in your face and prance on your food." And yet… without bees, we might not have strawberries for shortcakes or avocados for tacos!
Shabazz Larkin’s The Thing About Bees is a Norman Rockwell-inspired Sunday in the park, a love poem from a father to his two sons, and a tribute to the bees that pollinate the foods we love to eat. Children are introduced to different kinds of bees, “how not to get stung,” and how the things we fear are often things we don’t fully understand. - Tales of East Africa: African Folklore Book for Teens and Adults, Illustrated Stories and Literature from Africa
Tales of East Africa: African Folklore Book for Teens and Adults, Illustrated Stories and Literature from Africa
by Jamilla Okubo
$22.95Tales of East Africa is a collection of 22 traditional tales from Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania.
Welcome to a world of magical adventure—a place where a boy spares the life of a fearsome monster, a flock of doves brings a girl back from the dead, and a hare wreaks havoc among all the other animals.
- Sulwe
Sulwe
by Lupita Nyong'o
Sold out*Ships in 7-10 business day*
Sulwe has skin the color of midnight. She is darker than everyone in her family. She is darker than anyone in her school. Sulwe just wants to be beautiful and bright, like her mother and sister. Then a magical journey in the night sky opens her eyes and changes everything.
- Off to See the Sea
Off to See the Sea
by Nikki Grimes
$17.99Night has fallen and Mom and Dad need to get their little one in the tub. To make it more fun, Mom brings a magical adventure out at sea to life, where the faucet is a waterfall, a rubber ducky is a sea creature, and the splashing water is a raging sea! In their ocean journey, Mom and Dad manage to get their little one clean just in time to dock for bedtime.
- Mae Among the Stars
Mae Among the Stars
by Roda Ahmed
$17.99*Ships in 7-10 Business Days*
A beautiful story inspired by Mae Jemison, the first African American Woman to travel in space.
When Little Mae was a child, she dreamed of dancing in space. She imagined herself surrounded by billions of stars, floating, gliding, and discovering.
Little Mae is a girl with big dreams, a supportive loving family, unbounded passion, and all the right stuff to dance among the stars. Against all odds, she will overcome any obstacle to become an astronaut one day.
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