Black Magic by Dinah Johnson
Hardcover: 32 pages
Henry Holt and Co. (BYR); 1st edition (January 19, 2010)
Cautions: None

Kiwi Magazine Review:
Black is the color of all things magical, fascinating and fun like zebra kisses, dark chocolate and twisty braids. Although the author extols all things black, the illustrations are vivid and whimsical. This is a lovely book which may make little girls reconsider black over pink as their favorite color.

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Let Freedom Sing by Vanessa Newton
Ages 4-8
Blue Apple Books (September 2, 2009)
Cautions: None

Kiwi Magazine Review:
I love this book! Taking the simple lyrics of ‘this little light of mine’ and juxtaposing it with the people that shaped the civil rights movement makes for an understandable, age-appropriate treatment of a very important time in U.S. history. Since the book is targeted for 4-8 year olds, the message is clear that each one of us can make a difference. Just look at Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King, Jr. and President Barack Obama. Let your light shine. The illustrations show the joy of the music flowing through the book’s characters as the sing the song and change history.

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Back of the Bus by Aaron Reynolds
Floyd Cooper (Illustrator)
Ages 4-8
Philomel - January 7, 2010

Kiwi Magazine Review:
It’s hard to believe that just a few short decades ago, not everyone had equal rights under the law in the US. It’s a subject that is often difficult to explain to our youngest generation, so a big thanks has to go to Aaron Reynolds and Floyd Cooper for creating a stunning picture book to explain the concept of equal rights to young children, from a young boy’s perspective. The story tells the fictional account of a young boy who sat in the back of the bus and witnessed Rosa Parks refusing to move. The colloquial text is powerful and direct, but understandable for even the youngest children. The images by Floyd Cooper illustrate the story and the emotions perfectly.

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Testing The Ice - A True Story About Jackie Robinson by Sharon Robinson
Illustrated by Kadir Nelson
Ages 4-8
Scholastic Press (October 1, 2009)
Cautions: None

Kiwi Magazine Review:
I often cry when I read books but it is pretty rare when I get chills from the impact of a story. I still have chills as I write about Testing The Ice - A True Story About Jackie Robinson by Sharon Robinson. Sharon is Jackie Robinson’s daughter and she weaves an amazing story about her father’s courage, from breaking the color barrier in Major League Baseball to bravely testing the ice before his children and their friends played hockey on a frozen lake. For a man who couldn’t swim, testing the ice was a bold act of love. Kadir Nelson’s art should hang from gilded frames in the most impressive art museums, but, despite its elegance and depth, he keeps it accessible and true. This author/illustrator combination is a perfect match.

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Hansel and Gretel by Rachel Isadora
Putnam - Apr 2009
Ages 6 - 8 years
Cautions - You know the drill - witches imprisoning children

Kiwi Magazine Review:
Hansel and Gretel was one of my favorite books as a child, even though the witch gave me nightmares. Somehow, this book is even a little more frightening when Rachel Isadora sets the story in the African jungle and lends her amazing illustrations to the plot. The lush backgrounds and adorable children make this old story vibrant and new.

Publisher Description
Caldecott Honor winner Rachel Isadora gives readers a stunning new interpretation of this classic Brothers Grimm fairy tale, setting the infamous witch’s cottage deep in a lush African forest. Hansel and Gretel’s plight feels all the more threatening as they’re plunged into the thick, dark jungle of Isadora’s rich collages.

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Most Loved in All The World by Tonya Hegamin
Houghton Mifflin, 2009
Readers: Ages 4-8
Cautions: Theme is frightening; a mother giving her child away to keep her safe

Kiwi Magazine Review:
This is a story woven from the fabric of historical events in the United States, although the book is fiction. The author has created a story about a little girl whose mother is a slave and how the mother makes the ultimate sacrifice of giving her child to another family so she won’t grow up to be a slave. It’s a heartwrenching book, but one that really drives home how a mother had to choose between clinging to her child or setting her on a path to a better life. Along the theme of weaving a story, the mother creates a quilt which symbolizes how much she is loved and these lovely images provide the perfect images for this touching story.

Publisher Description
An authentic and powerful account of slavery and how a handmade quilt helps a little girl leave home for freedom.

With a poet’s keen ear, Tonya Hegamin tells the account of a little girl whose mother is a secret agent on the Underground Railroad. Before sending her daughter north to freedom, the mother sews a quilt for her daughter, not only to guide her with its symbols of moss and the north star, but also to remind her always that the smiling girl in the center of the quilt is “most loved in all the world.” Strikingly illustrated in unique textile collaging and expressive acrylic paintings.

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Our Children Can Soar: A Celebration of Rosa, Barack, and the Pioneers of Change by Michelle Cook
Reading level: Ages 4-8
Bloomsbury USA Children’s Books - April 14, 2009

Kiwi Magazine Review:
This memorable picture book has a powerful message which belies the simplicity of the text. It took brave and dedicated men and women to bring about change and the words of this book capture that sentiment exactly. “Rosa sat so Martin could march…” And, the message comes through loud and clear that one person’s positive change can truly make a difference for generations to come.
Product Description
Rosa sat so

Martin could march.

Martin marched so

Barack could run.

Barack ran so

Our children can soar.

This is the seed of a unique picture book that is part historical, part poetry, and entirely inspirational. It takes the reader through the cumulative story of the US Civil Rights Movement, expanding the popular slogan beyond these three heroes to include more key players in the struggle for equality. Spare prose and vivid imagery make this a truly moving and accessible picture book to be savored by readers of all ages.

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Change Has Come: An Artist Celebrates Our American Spirit
by Kadir Nelson
Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing, January 2009
Ages 9-12
Cautions: None

Kiwi Magazine Review
Kadir Nelson’s amazing artistic talent is the perfect backdrop to President Obama’s words. The drawing in this book are so simple—black ink on white paper—yet they dance off the page, capture the moment and bring tears to the eye. I wasn’t familiar with Kadir before I read this book but he managed to imprint his stunning, powerful images in my mind and in my heart.

Publisher’s Description
The black and white images throughout are personal reflections, uniquely felt and rendered by award winning artist Kadir Nelson. They are accompanied by the uplifting words of Barack Obama and commemorate the movement and the moment that have changed our history. It’s a celebration of the power of inspiration. It’s a celebration of how far we have come and how determined we are to look ahead. It’s a celebration of pride, hope and joy personally felt and publically shared.

Most of all it’s a celebration of the 44th president - a new president and a new chapter in the American story.

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Satchel Paige: Striking Out Jim Crow by James Sturm
Rich Tommaso (Illustrator)
Ages 9-12
Graphic Novel
Hyperion Book CH (December 18, 2007)
Cautions: Themes of prejudice

Extras: Teacher’s guide, author interviews and other material at http://www.cartoonstudies.org/books/paige/

Kiwi Magazine Review:
You almost can’t go wrong with a combination of baseball and graphic novel when it comes to getting kids to read. Baseball Hall-of-Famer Leroy “Satchel” Paige changed the face of the game in a career that spanned five decades.
Told from the point of view of a fictional sharecropper, this book follows Paige from his youth to his unstoppable pitching arm. It’s a wonderful story, told in a 3-color graphic format about a man who stopped many batters, but played an even bigger role in “striking out” Jim Crow.

Product Description
Baseball Hall of Famer Leroy “Satchel” Paige (1905 - 1982) changed the face of the game in a career that spanned five decades. Much has been written about this larger-than-life pitcher, but when it comes to Paige, fact does not easily separate from fiction. He made a point of writing his own history…and then re-writing it. A tall, lanky fireballer, he was arguably the Negro League’s hardest thrower, most entertaining storyteller and greatest gate attraction. Now the Center for Cartoon Studies turns a graphic novelist’s eye to Paige’s story. Told from the point of view of a sharecropper, this compelling narrative follows Paige from game to game as he travels throughout the segregated South.
In stark prose and powerful graphics, author and artist share the story of a sports hero, role model, consummate showman, and era-defining American.

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Hush Harbor: Praying in Secret by Freddi Williams Evans (Author), Erin Bennett Banks (Illustrator)
Carolrhoda Picture Books, 2008
Reading level: Ages 4-8
Cautions: Discussion of slavery, persecution

Kiwi Magazine Review:
The illustrations in this book convey joy, fear, pride and spirit to accompany the fascinating text about the clever people who held clandestine meetings of prayer, fellowship and friendship. Slaves were prohibited from gathering but they found a way and risked everything to retain their faith and protect one another. The dark shadowy tones are brightened by the stars in the sky and the optimistic faces of the characters. It’s a story that should be told, and this book is the perfect vehicle for some valuable life lessons.

Product Description
In the early nineteenth century, enslaved Africans are not allowed to gather together in groups. For Simmy and his family, that means they must worship in secret. If they are caught, the punishment will be terrible. Simmy’s job is to watch for danger while the others pray and sing as the Spirit moves them. Will he be able to keep the hush harbor safe?

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