The book features 116 important figures across science, medicine, art, literature, politics, journalism, sports, entertainment, and music, offering a rich sample of the Black figures who have shaped the arc of history and culture. Kids will know some, like Sojourner Truth, Barack Obama, and Michael Jordan. Others, like playwright August Wilson or painter Jacob Lawrence, may offer new sources of inspiration. Like many children’s books, it uses repetitive language as a framework: “Have I told you that we turned folk music into jazz in New Orleans?” one page asks in white and pink type, over a sea of blue. “Have I told you that we are brilliant academics, lawyers, advocates, and judges?” another asks in type that splashes across the page, with names of luminaries in the field layered over the question in all caps. As kids read their way through the book, the type crescendos into bigger sizes. It creates rhythms across the page. It’s musical. … [Read more...] about This gorgeous new children’s book celebrates Black Lives Matter
