This month marks the 50th anniversary of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church bombing in Birmingham, Alabama, a horrific event which became a turning point in the Civil Rights Movement. Award-winning author Carole Boston Weatherford pays homage to the four girls who lost their lives in her powerful book, Birmingham, 1963. Here, Carole talks about the history and the inspiration for her acclaimed book as part of [ Read the full article… ]

Picture books that commemorate this historic day: I Have a Dream, by Martin Luther King, Jr; illustrated by Kadir Nelson (Schwartz & Wade, 2012) Synopsis from publisher: “From Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s daughter, Dr. Bernice A. King: “My father’s dream continues to live on from generation to generation, and this beautiful and powerful illustrated edition [ Read the full article… ]

In a few days, summer will officially be here. Time for vacations, reunions, camps, fun with cousins and friends. But don’t forget to encourage the kids in your life to read. First Book created this eye-opening graphic that shows the effects of the summer slide, the loss of reading skills that can happen when kids don’t read during the summer break [ Read the full article… ]

THE LAURA LINE is a new middle grade novel written by BBS contributor, Crystal Allen. It’s funny (ding!), affecting (ding, ding!), and full of heart (ding, ding, ding!) Yes—you do have to read the story to be up on the “ding”. With themes of body image and self-acceptance, it’s a timely tale that also contains [ Read the full article… ]

This year, the Harlem Book Fair celebrates its 15th anniversary. A new award – QBR Wheatley Book Awards – will debut there too. In past years, the Phillis Wheatley Award was given as an honor to authors like Maya Angelou, Gordon Parks and Terry McMillan for their body of work. Categories for the new award [ Read the full article… ]

The annual celebration of the children’s books, Children’s Book Week is here. Sponsored by the Children’s Book Council and Every Child A Reader, includes events across the U.S., downloadable resources for kids and educators, and a Gala honoring the year’s Children’s and Teen Choice Book Award winners. This year, National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature [ Read the full article… ]

Beloved children’s author Fredrick L. McKissack died on Sunday, April 28, at the age of 73. With his wife and longtime writing partner Patricia, McKissack was the author of more than 100 books for children, including the award-winning DAYS OF JUBILEE (Coretta Scott King Honor, 2003), BLACK HANDS, WHITE SAILS: The Story of African-American Whalers [ Read the full article… ]