The New York Public Library Celebrates The Black Experience in Children's Books

Celebrate the diversity and richness of African American life with the 12th edition of The Black Experience in Children's Books, published by The New York Public Library.   Selected by a committee of experienced children's librarians, the more than 400 titles explore the stories, poetry, folklore, and history of black life in America through the times of slavery, reconstruction, migration, the civil rights era, and contemporary events.

Titles have been selected based on their historical accuracy and their honest and sympathetic portrayal of characters.  Authors are researching previously unexplored areas for children such as the whaling industry and the movement west after the Civil War.  They are also creating memorable characters whose stories are set in the times of slavery, the Depression, and the South before the Civil Rights Movement.

An exciting author to note is Christopher Paul Curtis, whose second novel, Bud, Not Buddy, has won both the Newbery Medal for 2000 and the Coretta Scott King Award for 2000.  This is the first time that an African American male has won the Newbery and the first time that the awards have gone to the same writer.

Virginia Hamilton, winner of the prestigious MacArthur Fellowship, continues to explore African American storytelling traditions in A Ring of Tricksters and When Birds Could Talk and Bats Could Sing.  Andrea Davis Pinkney, author and editor, established the Jump at the Sun imprint at Hyperion Books for Children in 1998 in order to seek and nurture African American authors and illustrators.  In one of her first titles, Jump Back, Honey, she and Ashley Bryan combine their efforts to select poetry of Paul Laurence Dunbar and share his voice with a new generation of listeners.

Several excellent biographies of African American artists have been added to the list, along with titles on Juneteenth -- the Texas celebration of the end of slavery.

Two emerging young artists are Christopher Myers whose Harlem and Black Cat and Javaka Steptoe whose In Daddy's Arms I am Tall offer exciting new collage styles.

The current edition includes titles from previous editions still in print, and highly recommended titles published in the previous five years.  Organized by themes with helpful categories such as "Poetry, Song and Art;" "Celebrations;" "Folklore;" "Biography;" "Reference;" and "History," the list is a must-have for parents and educators who want to present a positive and lasting impression
of African American life.

The Black Experience in Children's Books, 1999 may by used with all children from preschool through junior high school  All of the books on this list are included in the James Weldon Johnson Memorial collection in the Children's Room of the Countee Cullen Branch, located at 104 West 136th Street.  They may be consulted there and at many of the children's rooms in branches of The New York Public Library.  All titles listed are in print as of September, 1999.

The Black Experience in Children's Books, 1999 can be purchased for $8.00 by mail from the Office of The Branch Libraries, 455 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY  10016.  Mail orders must be accompanied by postage ($1.00 for 1-5 copies, $1.25 for 6-10 copies, and $1.50 for bulk orders).
 

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