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Makenzie's Staff Picks

 

Makenzie (Dartricia's niece) is our youngest Charis team member. She attends all the zoom meetings and has lots to say about the newest board books and picture books so check out her favorites!

Holiday Gift Guide:

Black History for Kids

Black Culture for Kids

Black Women in History for Kids

Black Feminist Writers for Kids

 

Together By Mona Damluji, Innosanto Nagara (Illustrator) Cover Image
By Mona Damluji, Innosanto Nagara (Illustrator)
$12.95
ISBN: 9781644210840
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 Days
Published: Triangle Square - October 5th, 2021

A breathtakingly simple poem of universal experience shows us the transformative power of collective action.

"Together offers a vision of the world we want for our children, one in which all living things flourish, our communities thrive, and justice prevails.” --Ibram X. Kendi, author of Antiracist Baby


A is for Activist By Innosanto Nagara Cover Image
$11.95
ISBN: 9781609805395
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 Days
Published: Triangle Square - November 19th, 2013

One of NPR's Top 100 Book for Young Readers 

“Reading it is almost like reading Howard Zinn's A People's History of the United States, but for two-year olds—full of pictures and rhymes and a little cat to find on every page that will delight the curious toddler and parents alike.”—Occupy Wall Street



Lift Every Voice and Sing By James Weldon Johnson, James Weldon Johnson (Text by) Cover Image
$17.99
Email or call for price.
ISBN: 9781681199559
Published: Bloomsbury Children's Books - January 8th, 2019

Will Ladybug Hug? By Hilary Leung Cover Image
$7.99
ISBN: 9781338215601
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 Days
Published: Cartwheel Books - October 30th, 2018

You loved Will Bear Share? and Will Sheep Sleep?, now get to know Ladybug in a hilarious new high-fiving and hugging-themed addition to creator Hilary Leung's animal books!

One ladybug.Many friends.One timeless question: Will Ladybug Hug?Meet Ladybug. Ladybug loves to hug!


A Song for Gwendolyn Brooks: Volume 3 By Alice Faye Duncan, Xia Gordon (Illustrator) Cover Image
By Alice Faye Duncan, Xia Gordon (Illustrator)
$17.99
Email or call for price.
ISBN: 9781454930884
Published: Union Square Kids - January 1st, 2019

"A stirring, accessible introduction to Gwendolyn Brooks and a must-have for all elementary collections." --School Library Journal (Starred review)
"The combination of biography and Brooks' own poems makes for a strong, useful, and beautiful text . . . A solid introduction to a brilliant writer"--Kirkus.


Bedtime Bonnet By Nancy Redd, Nneka Myers (Illustrator) Cover Image
By Nancy Redd, Nneka Myers (Illustrator)
$18.99
ISBN: 9781984895240
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 Days
Published: Random House Books for Young Readers - April 7th, 2020

This joyous and loving celebration of family is the first-ever picture book to highlight Black nighttime hair traditions--and is perfect for every little girl who knows what it's like to lose her bonnet just before bedtime.

In 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.


The Women Who Caught The Babies: A Story of African American Midwives By Eloise Greenfield, Daniel Minter (Illustrator) Cover Image
By Eloise Greenfield, Daniel Minter (Illustrator)
$17.95
Email or call for price.
ISBN: 9780997772074
Published: Alazar Press - September 1st, 2019

The Women Who Caught the Babies highlights important aspects of the training and work of African-American midwives and the ways in which they have helped, and continue to help, so many families by “catching” their babies at birth.


I Am Brown By Ashok Banker, Sandhya Prabhat (Illustrator) Cover Image
By Ashok Banker, Sandhya Prabhat (Illustrator)
$17.99
ISBN: 9781911373940
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 Days
Published: Lantana Publishing - March 3rd, 2020

Brown-skinned children around the world laugh, love and play together in this infectiously joyful book.

I am brown. I am beautiful. I am perfect. I designed this computer. I ran this race. I won this prize. I wrote this book. A joyful celebration of the skin you're in--of being brown, of being amazing, of being you.


Child of the Universe By Ray Jayawardhana, Raul Colón (Illustrator) Cover Image
By Ray Jayawardhana, Raul Colón (Illustrator)
$17.99
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ISBN: 9781524717544
Published: Make Me a World - March 17th, 2020

Perfect for fans of The Wonderful Things You Will Be and That's Me Loving You, this picture book by a renowned astrophysicist is a lyrical meditation on the preciousness of one child and the vastness of the universe.

Just like the sun gives shine to the moon,
you light up the world beyond this room . . .


Black Is a Rainbow Color By Angela Joy, Ekua Holmes (Illustrator) Cover Image
By Angela Joy, Ekua Holmes (Illustrator)
$18.99
ISBN: 9781626726314
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 Days
Published: Roaring Brook Press - January 14th, 2020

A child reflects on the meaning of being Black in this moving and powerful anthem about a people, a culture, a history, and a legacy that lives on.

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.


Freedom, We Sing By Amyra León, Molly Mendoza (Illustrator) Cover Image
By Amyra León, Molly Mendoza (Illustrator)
$16.95
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ISBN: 9781912497324
Published: Flying Eye Books - July 7th, 2020

"I wonder, then, what freedom is. Is it a place? Is it a thought? Can it be stolen? Can it be bought?"


Sulwe By Lupita Nyong'o, Vashti Harrison (Illustrator) Cover Image
By Lupita Nyong'o, Vashti Harrison (Illustrator)
$17.99
ISBN: 9781534425361
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 Days
Published: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers - October 15th, 2019

A New York Times bestseller!
Featured in its own episode in the Netflix original show Bookmarks: Celebrating Black Voices!
Recipient of a Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor Award
Recipient of an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Children’s Literary Work

From Academy Award–winning actress Lupita Nyong’o comes a pow


Hair Love By Matthew A. Cherry, Vashti Harrison (Illustrator) Cover Image
$17.99
ISBN: 9780525553366
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 Days
Published: Kokila - May 14th, 2019

A New York Times Bestseller and tie-in to Academy-Award Winning Short Film "Hair Love"
 
"I love that Hair Love is highlighting the relationship between a Black father and daughter. Matthew leads the ranks of new creatives who are telling unique stories of the Black experience. We need this."


We Are Water Protectors By Carole Lindstrom, Michaela Goade (Illustrator) Cover Image
By Carole Lindstrom, Michaela Goade (Illustrator)
$17.99
ISBN: 9781250203557
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 Days
Published: Roaring Brook Press - March 17th, 2020

Winner of the 2021 Caldecott Medal
#1 New York Times Bestseller

Inspired by the many Indigenous-led movements across North America, We Are Water Protectors issues an urgent rallying cry to safeguard the Earth’s water from harm and corruption
a bold and lyrical picture book written by Carole Lindstrom and vibrantly illustrated by Michaela Goade.


Jump at the Sun: The True Life Tale of Unstoppable Storycatcher Zora Neale Hurston By Alicia D. Williams, Jacqueline Alcántara (Illustrator) Cover Image
$17.99
ISBN: 9781534419131
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 Days
Published: Atheneum/Caitlyn Dlouhy Books - January 12th, 2021

From the Newbery Honor–winning author of Genesis Begins Again comes a shimmering picture book that shines the light on Zora Neale Hurston, the extraordinary writer and storycatcher extraordinaire who changed the face of American literature.

Zora was a girl who hankered for tales like bees for honey.