(4) K-3 Pebble Books: Great African-Americans series. Designed to introduce new readers to African American contributions and to meet Common Core requirements, these slight books meet minimum standards with simple sentences, limited vocabulary, many photos, a running timeline, and a clear trajectory. But they falter somewhat when photos don't align with text and content is more complicated than writing restrictions can encompass. Reading list. Glos., ind. Review covers these Pebble Books: Great African-Americans titles: Mae Jemison and Bessie Coleman.

Reviewer: Frieda F. Bostian

(4) K-3 On My Own Biography series. Illustrated by Janice Lee Porter. Considering vocabulary and sentence limitations, these authors adequately present the lives of their subjects: Banneker pioneered as a black farmer, surveyor, and almanac writer; Coleman as a black woman pilot; and Nightingale as a wealthy Englishwoman who founded a nursing school and corps. The biographies' illustrations are colorful if somewhat static. Afterword, timeline. [Review covers these On My Own Biography titles: Benjamin Banneker, Bessie Coleman, and Florence Nightingale.]

Reviewer: Frieda F. Bostian

(4) 4-6 Illustrated by Teresa Flavin. The story of Bessie Coleman, the first African-American woman pilot, is told in sometimes stilted free verse, with brightly colored, simple gouache illustrations that depict scenes from her life. Bessie's commitment to her goal and willingness to work hard to achieve it are highlighted in the lengthy yet fast-moving narrative, which concludes with her tragic death in 1926 at the age of thirty-four.

Reviewer: CHristine Sarrazin

(4) YA African-American Biographies series. Writing styles of individual authors affect the readability of each volume in this series, ranging from enthusiastic to plodding and prosaic. The books will be useful where other material on each subject is limited. Unexceptional black-and-white photos are included as are websites and chronologies. Bib., ind. [Review covers these African-American Biographies titles: Julian Bond, Matthew Henson, Kweisi Mfume, Bessie Coleman, Harriet Tubman.]

Reviewer: Henrietta M. Smith

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Yvonne Buchanan. This picture-book biography of Bessie Coleman, the American who became the world's first black female aviator in the 1920s, has plenty of spirit, though the text seems overlong in spots and includes fictional dialogue. The watercolor illustrations, anchored by rounded brown pen lines, have a staged, stylized quality that is surprisingly pleasing. Bib.

Reviewer: Amy Lois Cohn