The International Reading Association has released it’s Choices Booklists for children, teachers and young adults. And the lists are quite diverse.
Here are a few titles from the Teacher’s list, that are either by or about African Americans:
Primary winners:
Ain’t Nobody a Stranger to Me by Ann Grifalconi, illustrated by Jerry Pinkney, Hyperion, Jump at the Sun.
D Is for Drinking Gourd: An African American Alphabet by Nancy I. Sanders, illustrated by E.B. Lewis, Sleeping Bear.
Henry’s Freedom Box: A True Story from the Underground Railroad by Ellen Levine, illustrated by Kadir Nelson, Scholastic, Scholastic Press.
Intermediate winners
A Friendship for Today, written by Patricia C. McKissack*; Scholastic, Scholastic Press.
A Song for Harlem, written by Patricia C. McKissack, Penguin, Viking.
Sweet Land of Liberty*, written by Deborah Hopkinson, illustrated by Leonard Jenkins*, Ill. Peachtree.
Advanced winners:
Celeste’s Harlem Renaissance, written by Eleanora E. Tate*; Little, Brown.
On My Journey Now: Looking at African-American History Through the Spirituals, written by Nikki Giovanni, Candlewick.
See all the lists and download the bookmarks at the IRA website.
* Indicates a 28 Days Later author, illustrator or book
–Don