The Day the Babies Crawled Away

The Day the Babies Crawled Away by Peggy Rathman

A boy follows fives babies who crawl away from a picnic and saves the day by bringing them back.

Brown Girl Dreaming

Brown Girl Dreaming

By Jacqueline Woodson

On the surface, Brown Girl Dreaming is the story of a girl’s journey from the South to the North and how her perceptions of race and self changed during that time. Go a bit deeper, and you may discover it to be a kind of touchstone for other children’s books about the African-American experience in North America. Brown Girl Dreaming may be the story of a girl’s journey to find her vocation and her voice but Jacqueline Woodson's novel in verse is more than a story. For it tells us more than most of our children’s nonfiction history books do.

Change Sings: A Children's Anthem

 

Change Sings: A Children's Anthem

By Amanda Gorman

“I can hear change coming
In its loudest, proudest song.
I don't fear change coming,
And so I sing along.”

Amanda Gorman's rhyming verse calls out to children on the first page alongside the image of a girl with brown skin and textured hair, sitting crossed legged with her guitar. It is suppose to represent Amanda as a child; it is suppose to represent every child. The following page is an explosion of colour and an expression of movement, as the girl walks past a dynamic mural of Martin Luther King Jr. The segments come together like a stained glass window, and Loren Long's illustrations become a rhymical beat of its own.

Gathering neighborhood kids to follow her in a musical parade, the children teach themselves that the power to change things in the world - big or small - rests within themsleves.

At 22 years of age, Amanda Gorman, a National Youth Poet Laureate, was the youngest to be invited to speak at a presidential inauguration. Gorman’s charisma while reading her compelling poem, “The Hill We Climb,” was unmistakable, as she brought into this world an iconic quote, “for there is always light, if only we’re brave enough to see it. If only we’re brave enough to be it.” 

 

Just Like Me

Just Like Me

By Vanessa Brantley-Newton

Marvelously constructed with layered textures, happy colours, and a poem on each page that reflects different girls' personalities and strengths. Uplifting and affirming poems like “The Day I Decided To Become Sunshine” or "I Am Enough" will find their way into young hearts. On the last page, all the girls come together to pull each other up and form a paper chain. A stand-out.

Rebound

Rebound

By Kwame Alexander

It’s 1988, and 12-year-old Charlie Bell is going through some hard times.  His father has passed away, and he doesn’t know how to deal with it.  Neither does his mother.  When Charlie gets caught stealing, his mother reaches the end of her rope and sends Charlie to his grandparents’ house in Washington D.C. for the summer.

Charlie does not want to go, but at least he has his cousin Roxie.  Roxie LOVES basketball and she’s good.  Charlie is not so good, and he’s afraid to play.  But when Roxie’s teammate gets injured, Charlie is forced into the game.  With a bit of practice, he learns that he can play.  And after a few more rough times, he learns that playing basketball is a better way to cope with problems than getting into trouble.

As Charlie’s grandfather tells him, “[Life] is a team sport.  You can surround yourself with people who don’t play by the rules, or you can surround yourself with those who do.  But if you choose wrong, don’t start complaining when the coach takes you out the game.” (p. 374)

Rebound is not your typical novel.  It’s written as a series of poems with a bit of graphic novel thrown in.  The words flow quickly and easily, and the poems are inspiring.  More than once I was brought to tears.

Highly recommended!