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Winter Reading Challenge Read a book about a Black artist
January 2025 |
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Alma's Art
by Roda Ahmed
Meet Alma, she loves to paint. With each new bucket of paint she finds, brushstrokes by brushstrokes, page by page, magic appears. This picture book for young children is inspired by the artist Alma Woodsey Thomas.
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The Paper Bird
by Lisa Anchin
There once was a time when all the colors, from midsummer blue to sunrise orange, lived at the tips of Annie's fingers...But when her classmates' sidelong glances cause Annie to notice all the tiny flaws in her art, her colorful creative spark fades to gray. With lyrical prose and eye-catching illustrations, author-artist Lisa Anchin shows readers how to find the beauty in imperfections and celebrate the joy of creating for creation's sake.
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Aaron Slater, Illustrator
by Andrea Beaty
Aaron Slater, who struggles with reading and writing, is sure his dream of being a storyteller is out of reach until he finds a way to spin a tale in a way that is uniquely his. Also available in Spanish
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Mary Can!
by Mary J. Blige
The multi-awarding-winning singer, artist, actress and icon presents this entertaining and empowering story in which young Mary, told there are many things she cannot do, isn't about to let anyone tell her she cannot sing!
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Parker Looks Up
by Parker Curry
In a story inspired by the young author's viral photo of her awestruck response to First Lady Michelle Obama's portrait, a young girl visits Washington, D.C.'s National Portrait Gallery and finds her life transformed by the historical examples of its subjects.
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Big
by Vashti Harrison
This semi-autobiographical exploration of being big in a world that prizes small follows a young child's journey to self-love, showing the power of words to both hurt and heal.
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Stitchin' and Pullin'
by Pat McKissack
As a young African American girl pieces her first quilt together, the history of her family, community, and the struggle for justice and freedom in Gee's Bend, Alabama unfolds.
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Georgia's Terrific, Colorific Experiment
by Zoe Persico
Wanting to be a scientist and resolving to begin by creating a unique experiment of her very own, young Georgia endeavors to blend science with art when she is unsure how her family of artists can help support her goals.
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The Artivist
by Nikkolas Smith
Realizing the magnitude of injustice, a young boy who is determined to do more brings together the different parts of himself—the artist and the activist—to become an Artivist, vowing to change the world one painting at a time.
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Miles Morales Spider-Man
by Denene Millner
In this heartfelt story about self-discovery, Miles Morales, aka Spider-Man, explores what it means to be an artist, a superhero and himself as he befriends a fellow artist who helps him learn more about his Puerto Rican heritage and the importance of his neighborhood.
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Between the Lines
by Sandra Neil Wallace
Presents the true story of NFL star Ernie Barnes—a boy who followed his dreams and became one of the most influential artists of his generation—with this beautifully illustrated nonfiction picture book.
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Jean-Michel Basquiat by Ma Isabel Sâanchez VegaraRecounts the life of artist Jean-Michel Basquiat, from his interest in art at a young age to his rise as a graffiti artist and international sensation.
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Radiant Child
by Javaka Steptoe
An introduction to the early life and achievements of modern art master Jean-Michael Basquiat describes how as a boy he saw art in all things and used his unique collage-style paintings to convey the pulsing, dynamic energy of New York City.
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Dream Builder
by Kelly Starling Lyons
A biography of Philip Freelon, whose rich family history and deep understanding of Black culture brought him to the role of lead architect for the Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture.
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Jake Makes a World
by Sharifa Rhodes-Pitts
Recounts how the young Jacob Lawrence, as a boy recently arrived in Harlem, reacted to the world around him and translated his responses into art at an after-school arts center.
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Holding Her Own
by Traci N. Todd
An inspiring picture book biography of the first Black woman cartoonist to be nationally syndicated in the U.S. who, in post-World War II America, stayed true to her art while remaining honest about the inequalities Black people had been fighting.
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You Gotta Meet Mr. Pierce!
by Chiquita Mullins Lee
Based on the true story of woodcarver Elijah Pierce and his community barber shop in Columbus, Ohio, this picture book follows a young boy who walks in for an ordinary haircut and walks out having discovered a lifetime of art.
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Just Jerry
by Jerry Pinkney
One of the most celebrated children's book illustrators of all time who paved the way for countless other Black artists shares how drawing offered him a sense of calm, control and confidence during a time when the segregation of Black Americans was the norm.
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A Splash of Red
by Jen. Bryant
The creators of the Caldecott Honor-winning A River of Words present a sumptuously illustrated introduction to the life and work of artist Horace Pippin, describing his childhood love for drawing and the World War I injury that challenged his career.
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Sewing Stories
by Barbara Herkert
Traces the story of young Harriet Powers, from her mastery of quilting skills as a young slave in Georgia and her hard work supporting her family after the Civil War through her creations of elaborate pictorial quilts and her eventual recognition as a gifted African-American folk artist.
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Faith Ringgold
by Sharna Jackson
Presents an illustrated look at the life of American painter, writer, mixed media sculptor, and performance artist, Faith Ringgold.
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It Jes' Happened
by Don Tate
A biography of twentieth-century African American folk artist Bill Traylor, a former slave who at the age of eighty-five began to draw pictures based on his memories and observations of rural and urban life in Alabama.
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Beautiful Shades of Brown
by Nancy Churnin
Growing up in the late 19th century, Laura Wheeler Waring didn't see any artists who looked like her. She didn't see any paintings of people who looked like her, either. So when she was offered a commission to paint portraits of accomplished African Americans, she jumped at the chance. Writers, singers, political activists, and thinkers all posed for her. Now her portraits hang in Washington, D.C.'s National Portrait Gallery, where children of all races can admire the beautiful shades of brown she captured.
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Infinite Hope
by Ashley Bryan
The Coretta Scott King Award-winning creator of Freedom Over Me presents a deeply personal picture book memoir about his World War II experiences as a black soldier who was drafted into a fiercely discriminatory, segregated army. 100,000 first printing.
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Everywhere Beauty Is Harlem
by Gary Golio
This visually stunning portrait of Black photographer Roy DeCarava, a child of the Harlem Renaissance and an artistic collaborator of Langston Hughes, takes readers through 1940s Harlem where beauty is everywhere as he immortalizes and documents the lives of ordinary Black people.
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The Seventh Most Important Thing
by Shelley Pearsall
After he throws a brick at the neighborhood Junk Man's head, Arthur Owens is sentenced to community service helping him, but the junk he collects might be more important than he suspects.
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The Harlem Charade
by Natasha Tarpley
Seventh-graders Jin, Alexandra, and Elvin come from very different backgrounds and circumstances, but they all live in Harlem, and when Elvin's grandfather is attacked they band together to find out who is responsible--and the search leads them to an enigmatic artist whose missing masterpieces are worth a fortune, and into conflict with an ambitious politician who wants to turn Harlem into an historic amusement park.
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Timid: A Graphic Novel
by Jonathan Todd
In this semiautobiographical middle-grade graphic novel, artist Cecil has a hard time fitting in at his new school, especially when one of his drawings is misused and gets him into serious trouble, forcing him to speak up and figure out who his real friends are.
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New Kid
by Jerry Craft
Enrolled in a prestigious private school where he is one of only a few students of color, talented seventh grade artist Jordan finds himself torn between the worlds of his Washington Heights apartment home and the upscale circles of Riverdale Academy.
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