Africa Dream (Coretta Scott King award)

  Greenfield, Eloise. (1977). Africa Dream (Carole Byard, Illus.). New York: HarperCollins Children’s Books.

  Africa Dream is the winner of the Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award for 1978.

  This book is about a young African American girl who dreams of traveling to the home of her ancestors. It’s a simple story, targeted for young children. The book could be used to launch discussions of culture, heritage, and transformations. The illustrations are pencil drawings. They are life-like and yet also have a sort of softness to them, as to depict that the girl is dreaming. This would be a good book for children of all races, but particularly African American children, who do not frequently see themselves represented in picture books.

 

We Are The Ship (Coretta Scott King award)

  Nelson, Kadir. (2008). We Are The Ship: The Story of NEGRO LEAGUE BASEBALL. New York: Hyperion Books for Children.

  We Are The Ship is the 2009 Coretta Scot King Author Award Winner.

  We Are The Ship is the story of Negro League baseball. Although there was never any “law” against blacks playing on mostly white teams, due to segregation in this country, they simply didn’t. So, in 1920,  they created their own league. This book is about the history of the league, the players of the league, and their experiences. I am a big history buff and love reading about the past. This particular story holds extra interest for me. When I was still working as a news reporter, I was sent to New York City to cover Jackie Robinson Day at Shea Stadium.  President Bill Clinton was on hand to honor the first black Major League Baseball player of the modern era. Of course, Robinson is discussed in We Are The Ship, and his crossing over to the regular leagues marked the end of the Negro Leagues. I found this book interesting and easy to read. The illustrations, paintings really, are magnificent. Colorful, realistic, and really contribute to the beauty of the book in a big way.