(2) K-3 Illustrated by Alleanna Harris. August Wilson (1945–2005), the renowned African American playwright, was born with "a song inside him." He liked words and the way they had their own kind of music. Although learning was easy, attending school, where "nobody looked like him," was difficult. He was targeted by bullies, and when a teacher questioned whether an assigned paper was really his own work (because it was "so good"), he walked out, never to return. At the public library, he voraciously read history, science, poetry, novels, and Greek philosophy. "And he found shelves of books written by Black authors. He read them all." At the same time, he was learning from music and became captivated by blues singer Bessie Smith. "August had never heard the blues before, but it sounded like...well, it sounded like food he didn't know he was hungry for." When he began writing, he collected stories from enslavement and everyday situations in the lives of Black people and shaped them into plays. He "wrote those people alive," affirming the theme that "everybody carries a song inside them." Harris's emotionally resonant illustrations (sketches composed with digital ink pens and finished using digital gouache brushes) support Denmead's lyrical narrative and inspirational tone. An annotated bibliography of Wilson's Century Cycle of plays and an extensive author's note are appended.

Reviewer: Pauletta Brown Bracy | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2024

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Cannaday Chapman. Beloved African American playwright August Wilson, known for his ten-play Pittsburgh Cycle and other dramas, is introduced to young readers in this elegant picture-book biography. Born Frederick August Kittel Jr. in 1945, Wilson was raised by his single mother in the diverse Hill District of Pittsburgh, awash in a rich medley of languages, people, and cultures. Struggling against discrimination and racial violence from a young age (including being called the n-word, spelled out in full in the text), Wilson was sustained by his love of words--from the squiggles on food labels that he sounded out at age four to the powerful voices of Black authors whose work he discovered at the public library. As an adult, Wilson listened intently to the people around him as he found his own way with words through poetry and eventually plays, giving voice to his own and other Black experiences. That power of words is central to this book: Bryant's well-researched and well-crafted text is deftly spun into two acts (childhood and adulthood) of freeform poems. Chapman's clear, intimate, mixed-media art appears throughout the thoughtfully designed pages, further drawing readers into the world of this powerhouse dramatist. The extensive back matter includes an author's note, a biographical timeline, bibliographic notes, and a list of Wilson's plays.

Reviewer: Anastasia M. Collins | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2020