(2) K-3 Illustrated by Jerry Jordan. Johnson's compelling text tells the inspirational true story of a Black suffragist who fought injustice all her life. This biography of Wells begins with her birth in 1862, a year before the Emancipation Proclamation freed her parents. The Fifteenth Amendment nominally enfranchised Black men, but after Ida's father voted for the first time, his white boss fired him, which led him to open his own business, Wells's Carpentry. At sixteen, Ida lost her parents and younger brother to yellow fever, and she began teaching and pursuing an education to support her siblings. Wells refused to accept discriminatory laws or the racist treatment of Black citizens on public transportation and fought against the brutal practice of lynching. The last half of the book focuses on her suffrage work, including her founding of the Alpha Suffrage Club and participation in the 1913 march of the National American Woman Suffrage Association -- an association that fought exclusively for white women's suffrage. Wells and other women of the Delta Sigma Theta sorority, including Mary Church Terrell, participated to show that they, too, required the vote. Jordan's skillfully crafted oil on cloth illustrations effectively capture the historical era in which Wells lived and the determination she showed regardless of the challenge. The detailed back matter -- including an author's note, a timeline, photographs, and source notes -- offers readers ample resources for learning more about a person and history that all young people should know.

Reviewer: Michelle H. Martin | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2024

(1) K-3 Illustrated by April Harrison. This engaging and beautiful alphabet book features and celebrates not only Harlem's history, including the Harlem Renaissance, but also contemporary figures and iconic places that bridge ­Harlem's past and present. From the Apollo Theater, Harlem Children's Zone, and The Brownies' Book to food, sports, and the arts, there is something here to spark any of a wide range of interests. Equal parts love letter and travelogue, this book is a virtual trip through the sights and sounds of one of New York City's most iconic neighborhoods. Harrison's (What Is Given from the Heart, rev. 1/19) vibrant paint and collage illustrations are equally adept at representing the ­historical and the contemporary. Every inviting spread is alive in color, detail, and respect for the subject matter. This book is a starting point to learn more about one of the most important artistic, cultural, and intellectual incubators of Black culture in the United States. What a splendid way to learn the alphabet!

Reviewer: Monique Harris | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2022

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Anna Cunha. Johnson's "love song to the Sea Islands [and] my African friends" opens with a young Black girl running along the beach at "day-clean," the Gullah/Geechee phrase for dawn. Cunha's illustrations capture the oranges and blues of the early morning sky and the brilliant blue of the sea. The second spread shows another Black girl across the sea also greeting the morning. The two girls, while separated by an ocean, have much in common, as shown in Cunha's textured, colorful illustrations and Johnson's engaging text. Throughout the day, each plays with friends on the beach, listens to stories about Anansi the spider, and makes a basket out of sweetgrass. In an appended author's note, Johnson explains that the Gullah/Geechee people are descendants of enslaved Africans who have maintained many aspects of their African culture, and that the Sea Islands along the coast of South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida have been home to them. Through the story, young readers learn about the islands and some of their language and traditions while experiencing the beauty of connection. This story pairs well with Royce's middle-grade novel Root Magic (rev. 3/21), which is also set in the Sea Islands; as well as Hamilton's The People Could Fly, which retells many of the folktales told by Africans throughout the diaspora.

Reviewer: Nicholl Denice Montgomery | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2022

(3) K-3 Illustrated by R. Gregory Christie. A young African American girl celebrates being black with a collection of lively definitions drawn mostly from her everyday life: "Black is big / like a star-filled sky / and tiny like the / sparkle in my daddy's eye." The warmth and joy conveyed in her descriptions is echoed in Christie's vibrant illustrations.

Reviewer: Henrietta M. Smith

(4) K-3 Photographs by Kelly Johnson. Joyful photographs of children celebrate the beauty of African American hair. Accompanied by a singsongy poem, the pictures display a number of youthful styles, from "Afro puffs" to artistic braids. Together, words and images send a clear message about the importance of self-esteem and cultural pride. Reading list.

Reviewer: Henrietta M. Smith

(3) K-3 Illustrated by James Ransome. A girl who shares the name Hattie Lottie Annie Quinnie Blue with her grandmother speculates about what Grandma was like as a child. In the rich oil illustrations for this poetic, celebratory text, blue-bordered scenes of Grandma's childhood alternate with white-bordered scenes from the narrator's life. Ransome augments his effective portraits of both girls with small blocks painted in a different childlike style.

Reviewer: Martha Sibert

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Tyrone Geter. This sentimental, nostalgic piece of African-Americana centers the week on Sunday, a day that bursts with such joyous and reverent activity that author and illustrator give it as many pages of art and text as the rest of the week combined. Johnson's lyric verse evokes warm and honest images of home and love and God, and Geter's palette matches the mood of church ecstasy or subdued worship as a family prays at the table.

Reviewer: Susan P. Bloom | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 1999

(2) K-3 Roberts was a self-taught photographer who took pictures of African Americans during the 1920s and 1930s, particularly in and around Columbia, South Carolina. Johnson weaves his story, real and imagined, around the people depicted in his work. Roberts's work will interest students of history and photography, as well as those who would "look at his pictures and see a whole world in the eyes of a Carolina boy or girl."

Reviewer: The Horn Book, Inc.