2024 Black History Month: African Americans and the Arts - Kids

Celebrate Black History Month 2024's theme African American and the Arts for kids.

Updated January 16, 2024
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Soul food Sunday
Bingham, Winsome
Paper Book
On Sundays, everyone gathers at Granny's for Soul Food. But today, I don't go to the backyard or the great room. I follow Granny instead. "You're a big boy now," Granny says. "Time for you to learn." At Granny's, Sunday isn't Sunday...
Music is a rainbow
Collier, Bryan
Paper Book
A young boy remembers quietly watching his father read the paper and sip a cup of coffee. He remembers his sweet momma, who lovingly pressed away the wrinkles on his clothes. Then one day, his father is gone and his momma falls ill. But through his love of music he feels his father's warm hugs...
Black ballerinas : my journey to our legacy
Copeland, Misty
Paper Book
From New York Times bestselling and award-winning author and American Ballet Theatre principal dancer Misty Copeland comes an illustrated nonfiction collection celebrating dancers of color who have influenced her on and off the stage. As a young girl living in a motel with...
Bunheads
Copeland, Misty
Paper Book
Instant New York Times bestselling series opener inspired by prima ballerina and author Misty Copeland's own early experiences in ballet. From prima ballerina and New York Times bestselling author Misty Copeland comes the story of a young Misty, who discovers her...
The green piano : how little me found music
Flack, Roberta
Paper Book
This autobiographical picture book by the multiple Grammy Award-winning singer Roberta Flack recounts her childhood in a home surrounded by music and love- it all started with a beat-up piano that her father found in a junkyard, repaired, and painted green. Growing up in a Blue...
We can : portraits of power
Gordon, Tyler
Paper Book
"When I was born, the doctors told my mom that if I did survive I would have lots of health problems and be blind, deaf and severely mentally delayed . . . Boy were they wrong!" --Tyler Gordon Fifteen-year-old Tyler Gordon's journey from a regular kid growing up in San Jose,...
Legacy : women poets of the Harlem Renaissance
Grimes, Nikki
Paper Book
From Children's Literature Legacy Award-winning author Nikki Grimes comes a feminist-forward new collection of poetry celebrating the little-known women poets of the Harlem Renaissance--paired with full-color, original art from today's most talented female African-American illustrators.
Black artists shaping the world
Jackson, Sharna
Paper Book
Written by award-winning Black children's author Sharna Jackson, this engaging book introduces young readers to twenty-six contemporary artists from Africa and of the African diaspora, working in everything from painting, sculpture, and drawing to ceramics, installation art, and sound art. ...
Hip-hop Lollipop
Montanari, Susan McElroy
Paper Book
In this lyrical read-aloud filled with rhythm and rhyme and illustrated by Caldecott Honor winner Brian Pinkney, follow a little girl as she dances her way to bedtime. Mama says, "Lollipop, stop! Stop! Jumping snapping nonstop." Arms and shoulders pop...
There was a party for Langston
Reynolds, Jason
Paper Book
A Caldecott Honor Book A Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor Book New York Times bestselling and award-winning author Jason Reynolds's debut picture book is a snappy, joyous ode to Word King, literary genius, and glass-ceiling smasher Langston Hughes and...
Ellington was not a street
Shange, Ntozake.
Paper Book
Featuring luminous art by Coretta Scott King Award-winning illustrator Kadir Nelson, this reflective picture book by poet Ntozake Shange looks back at the great Black thinkers and innovators who visited her father's house. A close-knit group of Black innovators formed their own...
Radiant child : the story of young artist Jean-Michel Basquiat
Steptoe, Javaka
Paper Book
Somewhere in Brooklyn, a little boy dreams of being a famous artist, not knowing that one day he would make himself a king. Jean-Michel Basquiat and his unique, collage-style paintings rocketed to fame in the 1980s as a cultural phenomenon unlike anything the art world had...
Holding her own : the exceptional life of Jackie Ormes
Todd, Traci N.
Paper Book
Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor Book * Robert F. Sibert Honor Book An evocative picture book biography about the prolific life of Jackie Ormes, whose groundbreaking cartoons became some of the first empowering depictions of Black women in America! Jackie Ormes made...
Nina : a story of Nina Simone
Todd, Traci N.
Paper Book
A 2022 Coretta Scott King Book Award Honoree!   This luminous, defining picture book biography illustrated by Caldecott Honoree Christian Robinson, tells the remarkable and inspiring story of acclaimed singer Nina Simone and her bold, defiant, and exultant legacy. ...
Maya's song
Watson, Renée
Paper Book
From bestselling, award-winning creators Renée Watson and Bryan Collier comes a stunningly crafted picture book chronicling the life of poet and activist Maya Angelou. This unforgettable picture book introduces young readers to the life and work of Maya Angelou, whose words...
Oprah Winfrey
Watson, Renée
Paper Book
Inspired by the #1 New York Times bestseller She Persisted by Chelsea Clinton and Alexandra Boiger, a chapter book series about women who stood up, spoke up and rose up against the odds--including Oprah Winfrey! In this chapter book biography by Newbery Honor and...
Young, gifted and black too
Wilson, Jamia
Paper Book

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