(2) K-3 Illustrated by Don Tate. Slade and Tate provide an overview of the development and rise to fame of the Harlem Globetrotters, with origins on Chicago's South Side in the 1920s and still thrilling viewers with their skills today. Because the players were Black, the team had to play exclusively on the road, facing racism and violence ("hometown fans didn't like out-of-town hotshots skunking their team") as they "barnstormed their way across America." Their popularity soared when they began incorporating ball-handling tricks into their play--but professional basketball remained all white. In 1948 the team challenged the powerhouse Minnesota Lakers to a game--and won; two years later, Chuck Cooper (a Globetrotters recruit) became the first Black player to be drafted into the NBA. Known as "America's Ambassadors of Goodwill," the Globetrotters' impact extends beyond the world of sports. Slade's peppy main text is short on dates and details, as the team's history is somewhat apocryphal; the useful back matter, including "More on the Trotters," an artist's note, a timeline, select sources, and archival photos, provides additional information. Tate's illustrations, done digitally in his usual big-hearted-caricature style (Whoosh!, rev. 7/16, and others), are an ideal match for the subject, with the players' tallness and thinness perfectly exaggerated, and the forever-motion of that big orange ball and its handlers spinning, twirling, and dunking on every scene.

Reviewer: Elissa Gershowitz | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2020

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Don Tate. Hopkinson's inspiring story explains how young Carter G. Woodson (1875–1950) read the newspaper to his father and fellow coal miners. Their desire to be informed citizens, plus a challenge from his Harvard professor, led Woodson to later establish Negro History Week, predecessor to Black History Month. Tate's engaging mixed-media illustrations and endpaper drawings include portraits of Black leaders throughout history. Timeline, websites. Bib.

Reviewer: Monique Harris

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Don Tate. Bolden spotlights the life, work, and legacy of African American farmer and businessman Groves, born into slavery, who became known as the "Potato King of the World." As a free man, he worked on a Kansas potato farm and, over time, built an empire. Bolden's use of alliteration and folksy language lightens the fact-packed narrative. Quotes from Groves fill boxed insets in Tate's unpretentious, sunny-hued art. Timeline. Bib., glos.

Reviewer: Elisa Gall | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2018

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Don Tate. Greenfield's zany, free-verse picture book will make you think again about what the vegetables in your fridge might do when you go out: "par-tay!" From the piano-playing eggplant to the string bass–thumping basil, this band of crudités knows how to rock out and the fun is infectious. Tate's vibrant illustrations turn run-of-the-mill veggies into vivacious personalities for this joyful story. A "What Is a Vegetable?" discussion is appended. Bib.

Reviewer: Michelle H. Martin | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2018

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Don Tate. Set in 1895 New Orleans, this fictionalized account of the instrument-making street kids who formed the Razzy Dazzy Spasm Band is brought to life with bouncy, colloquial narration and brightly colored, super-cartoony illustrations. Author and illustrator notes with historical context about the orphans that comprised the real-life band fill in occasional gaps in the storytelling. Includes instructions on "how to zip-zee-zoo on a homemade kazoo."

Reviewer: Amy Seto Forrester

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Don Tate. Barton follows African American inventor Johnson, from his childhood tinkering through winning first place at a 1968 science fair, attending Tuskegee Institute, engineering for NASA, and developing a super-blast water gun. Barton describes Johnson's ups and downs before he finally sold his Super Soaker to a toy company, but the straightforward text has a generally upbeat, you-can-do-it attitude. Clear digital illustrations with time-period-appropriate details help situate readers.

Reviewer: Elissa Gershowitz | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2016

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Don Tate. Reconstruction-era Mississippi is the setting of former slave Lynch's story, during which time he witnessed many ways in which slaves' happy freedom "soon turned sour." Lynch saw racialized violence, used cunning to gain an education, and became an advocate for equal rights as a U.S. Congressman. A dignified biography illustrated with much emotion. Back matter encourages further exploration. Reading list, timeline.

Reviewer: Lauren Causey

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Don Tate. At his funeral, Martin Luther King Jr.'s casket was carried in a borrowed wooden farm cart pulled by two mules. It's a humble image, but the throngs of people lining the streets to pay their respects reflect Dr. King's great work and legacy. Bunting's simple, poetic prose follows the cart's slow, sad procession; Tate's somber, handsome gouache illustrations are a perfect accompaniment.

Reviewer: Henrietta M. Smith

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Don Tate. Before fleeing the plantation, Hope's father tells her that the sound of freedom is found in the conch shell he gives her; listening to it keeps Hope optimistic until Papa comes to rescue them as a Union soldier years later. Colored-pencil and gouache illustrations expertly display emotion on characters' faces. An author's note explains the Emancipation Proclamation and the Thirteenth Amendment.

Reviewer: Melinda Greenblatt

(3) 4-6 Illustrated by Don Tate. In 1960, Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn composed a jazz rendition of Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker Suite. They performed it in Las Vegas to amused and enthusiastic audiences. Celenza's text is appropriately jazzy, and Tate's curvy illustrations evoke the swing of the music. The true story is enhanced by the accompanying CD; the Sugar Plum Fairy morphs into Sugar Rum Cherry.

Reviewer: Paula M. Cairo

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Don Tate. Effa Manley was the first woman inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. This book describes her work as an owner/manager of the Newark Eagles, a Negro League team, and her tireless fight on behalf of African Americans whenever she encountered injustice. Rich-hued paintings capture the times in addition to Manley's warmth and determination.

Reviewer: Miriam Lang Budin

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Don Tate. Young Ron (astronaut Ronald McNair) doesn't have time for breakfast or basketball: "I've got something important to do." He's going to the library to check out aviation books. But in his segregated town, Ron is forbidden from having a library card. Contemporary-looking caricatures plus lack of context make it difficult to situate the fictionalized story in time, but the events described are inspiring.

Reviewer: Elissa Gershowitz

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Don Tate. The richness of African-American folklore is brought to life in five funny stories of the trickster, remembered from the author's North Carolina childhood. The introduction acknowledges the place of Joel Chandler Harris in making the stories available, but McGill credits her neighbors in telling them in more authentic and economical language. The exaggerated humor of the acrylic paintings echoes the stories.

Reviewer: Melinda Greenblatt

(4) PS Illustrated by Don Tate. An African-American boy rises early in the morning and goes through an idyllic farming day, his eyes on the position of the sun. The rhyming text is a little singsongy ("Pa by the shed / rollin' out wire. / Summer sun's climbin' / higher and higher"), but the rich, restful illustrations of the farm and the stylized, geometrically planed depictions of the family provide texture and movement.

Reviewer: Anita L. Burkam

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Don Tate. Rhyming couplets, each capped with a "Say hey, Willie. Say hey" trace the life of Willie Mays from his Alabama childhood to his big-league baseball career. The text pays special attention to the triumph of a shy boy allowed to grow into his talent. The illustrations, rendered in rich acrylic paint, have energy and style but don't quite convey Mays's exquisite skill and grace.

Reviewer: Amy Lois Cohn