As we celebrate Black History Month at Green Hedges, we are recognizing the achievements of African-Americans in many areas including science, mathematics, engineering, medicine, sports, the arts and literature.
Our Librarian, Mrs. Nancy Provenzano, has curated a list of books that celebrate African-American authors and prominent African-Americans past and present, and an array of authors who represent the diversity of America, both in their own heritage and through the characters in their books. Included in this list are books written by Newbery Award winning author, Kwame Alexander. This week we were fortunate to welcome Kwame to Green Hedges to share his books and inspire our students. He is just one of many authors we welcome to the school year round who encourage our students to explore the world around them through reading.
All of the books listed below can be found at the Green Hedges Library. When asked about her approach to choosing books for the School’s collection, Mrs. Provenzano states “I’d like every child to see themselves represented in all aspects of literature and to ultimately realize the range of possibilities available to them.”
Preschool- Grade 3
Fiction
Acoustic Rooster and His Barnyard Band – Kwame Alexander
And Tango Makes Three – Pete Parnell
Baseball Saved Us – Ken Mochizuki
Be Who You Are – Todd Parr
Bee-Bim-Bop – Linda Sue Park
Firebird – Misty Copeland
Grandfather’s Journey – Allen Say
The Grey Lady and the Strawberry Snatcher – Molly Bang
King & King – Linda de Haan
Mango, Abuela & Me – Meg Medina
More More More Said the Baby – Vera B. Williams
My Princess Boy – Cheryl Kilodavis
Nino Wrestles the World – Yuyi Morales
The Other Side – Jacqueline Woodson
Tar Beach – Faith Ringgold
Thunder Boy Jr. – Sherman Alexie
Twenty Yawns – Jane Smiley
Whistle for Willie – Ezra Jack Keats
Folktales
Bruh Rabbit and the Tar Baby Girl – Virginia Hamilton
The Dragon Prince: A Chinese Beauty & the Beast Tale – Laurence Yep
Gluskabe and the Four Wishes – Joseph Bruchac
Little Roja Riding Hood – Susan Middleton Elya
Lon Po Po: A Red-Riding Hood Story from China – Ed Young
Petite Rouge: A Cajun Red Riding Hood – Mike Artell
The Twelve Dancing Princesses – Rachel Isadora
Nonfiction
A Splash of Red: The Life and Art of Horace Pippin — Jen Bryant
Alicia Alonso: Prima Ballerina — Carmen T. Bernier-Grand
When the Beat Was Born: DJ Kool Herc and the Creation of Hip Hop – Laban Carrick Hill
Young Jim Thorpe: Bright Path — Don Brown
Grades 4 – 6
Fiction
As Brave as You – Jason Reynolds
Birchbark House (series) – Louise Erdrich
Blossoming Universe of Violet Diamond — Brenda Woods
Crossover and Booked – Kwame Alexander
Esperanza Rising – Pam Munoz Ryan
Flying Lessons & other Stories – Edited by Ellen Oh
George — Alex Gino
Inside Out & Back Again – Thanhha Lai
Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy – Gary D. Schmidt
Locomotion and Peace, Locomotion – Jacqueline Woodson
Millicent Min, Girl Genius and Stanford Wong Flunks Big Time (series) — Lisa Yee
One Crazy Summer (trilogy)– Rita Williams Garcia
President of the Whole Fifth Grade — Sherri Winston
The Thing About Luck – Cynthia Kadohata
Watsons Go to Birmingham – Christopher Paul Curtis
Nonfiction
El Deafo – Cece Bell (graphic novel biography)
March, Book One – John Lewis (graphic novel biography)
We are the Ship: The Story of Negro League Baseball – Kadir Nelson
Grades 7 – 8
Fiction
Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang (graphic novel)
Chains (trilogy) – Laurie Halse Anderson
The Circuit: Stories from the Life of a Migrant Child – Francisco Jimenez
The Code Talker – Joseph Bruchac
Crossing the Wire – Will Hobbs
Dragonwings (series) – Laurence Yep
Elijah of Buxton and Madman of Piney Woods – Christopher Paul Curtis
Fallen Angels – Walter Dean Myers
The Glory Field – Walter Dean Myers
Fiction in Verse
Red Pencil by Andrea Davis Pinkney
Home of the Brave by Katherine Applegate
Inside Out and Back Again by Thanhha Lai
All the Broken Pieces by Ann E. Burg (also Serafina’s Promise and Unbound)
Nonfiction
Harriet Tubman, Secret Agent – Thomas B. Allen
Heart and Soul: The Story of America and African Americans – Kadir Nelson
Rhythm Ride: A Road Trip Through the Motown Sound – Andrea Davis Pinkney
Autobiographies in Verse
Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson
Enchanted Air: Two Cultures, Two Wings: A Memoir by Margarita Engle
How I Discovered Poetry by Marilyn Nelson