The Coretta Scott King Book Awards
Eloise Greenfield is the recipient of the 2018 Coretta Scott King-Virginia Hamilton Award for Lifetime Achievement.
“Eloise Greenfield is a trailblazer whose extraordinary books of poetry and prose have influenced many and continue to resonate with children today. Her rich body of work inspires and enriches readers,” said Award Committee Chair Deborah D. Taylor.
Paul Robeson by Eloise Greenfield 1976 Awardee
UC San Diego exhibition features work by 7 leading international women
The seven artists – Eleanor Antin, Barbara Kruger, Faith Ringgold, Martha Rosler, Miriam … Substantiate Our Horror” (1985), Faith Ringgold’s hand-stenciled quilt “Seven Passages to a Flight”…
Presented together for the first time, seven internationally recognized artists are featured in the UC San Diego exhibition “Stories That We Tell: Art and Identity,” celebrating those who paved the way for greater inclusion by inventing new means to address issues of race and gender.
The seven artists – Eleanor Antin, Barbara Kruger, Faith Ringgold, Martha Rosler, Miriam Schapiro, Lorna Simpson and Carrie Mae Weems – have all been honored with major exhibitions at leading museums, recognized with prestigious awards and are all representative of the university’s Department of Visual Arts.
“Faith Ringgold: An American Artist” to open at the Crocker Art Museum
“In the exhibition Faith Ringgold: An American Artist, there is warmth, charm, and straightforward honesty in Ringgold’s art,” said Crocker Art Museum Associate Curator Kristina Gilmore. “It draws us in and disarms us, then often reveals powerful messages. Through her work, she speaks truths that are sometimes haunting and painful, but often joyful and heartwarming. It’s quite inspirational.”
Aunt Harriet’s Underground Railroad in the Sky by Faith Ringgold 1993 Awardee
Exploring the Black Experience through the Art
“Create Dangerously – In this deeply personal book, the celebrated Haitian-American writer Edwidge Danticat reflects on art and exile, examining what it means to be an immigrant artist from a…
In this deeply personal book, the celebrated Haitian-American writer Edwidge Danticat reflects on art and exile, examining what it means to be an immigrant artist from a country in crisis. Inspired by Albert Camus’ lecture, “Create Dangerously,” and combining memoir and essay, Danticat tells the stories of artists, including herself, who create despite, or because of, the horrors that drove them from their homelands and that continue to haunt them. Danticat also suggests that the aftermaths of natural disasters in Haiti and the United States reveal that the countries are not as different as many Americans might like to believe.
Create Dangerously is an eloquent and moving expression of Danticat’s belief that immigrant artists are obliged to bear witness when their countries of origin are suffering from violence, oppression, poverty, and tragedy.
African-American history for young readers
Children’s books on African-American history, they both said, are increasingly becoming part of mainstream curriculums.
“Just look at the American classrooms today,” Andrea explained. “The majority have children of all kinds of races, nationalities and backgrounds. I think teachers and educators are realizing they have to serve these kids. These are the thought leaders, the teachers, the librarians, the illustrators, the writers and the decision makers of tomorrow.”
Sojourner Truth’s Step-Stomp Stride, by Andrea Davis Pinkney & Brian Pinkney 2010 Awardee
Top 10 Diverse Nonfiction for Older and Middle Readers
“Danza! Amalia Hernandez and Ballet Folklorico de Mexico. By Duncan Tonatiuh. Illus. by the author. 2017. Abrams, (9781419725326). Gr. 2–4. The life and work of dancer and choreographer Amalia Hernandez…
Black Power: 17 Children’s Books on Black Activists, Innovators, and…
Schomburg, The Man Who Built a Library by Carole Boston Weatherford, illustrated by Eric Velasquez. Where is our historian to give us our side? Arturo asked.
The Legendary Miss Lena Horne by Carole Boston Weatherford, illustrated by Elizabeth Zunon: Celebrate the life of Lena Horne, the pioneering African American actress and civil rights activist.
Radiant Child, The Story of Young Artist Jean-Michel Basquiat by Javaka Steptoe: Jean-Michel Basquiat and his unique, collage-style paintings rocketed to fame in the 1980s as a cultural phenomenon unlike anything the art world had ever seen.
The Book Itch: Freedom, Truth & Harlem’s Greatest Bookstore by Vaunda Micheaux Nelson, illustrated by R. Gregory Christie: In the 1930s, Lewis’s dad, Lewis Michaux Sr., started a bookstore in Harlem and named it the National Memorial African Bookstore.
Gordon Parks: How the Photographer Captured Black and White America by Carole Boston Weatherford, illustrated by Jamey Christoph: His white teacher tells her all-Black class, You’ll all wind up porters and waiters. What did she know? Gordon Parks is most famous for being the first Black director in Hollywood.
Frederick Douglass, The Lion Who Wrote History by Walter Dean Myers, illustrated by Floyd Cooper: Frederick Douglass was a self-educated slave in the South who grew up to become an icon.
Sugar Hill, Harlem’s Historic Neighborhood by Carole Boston Weatherford, illustrated by R. Gregory Christie: Take a walk through Harlem’s Sugar Hill and meet all the amazing people who made this neighborhood legendary. Includes brief biographies of jazz greats Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Sonny Rollins, and Miles Davis; artists Aaron Douglas and Faith Ringgold; entertainers Lena Horne and the Nicholas Brothers; writer Zora Neale Hurston; civil rights leader W. E. B. DuBois and lawyer Thurgood Marshall.
Coretta Scott by Ntozake Shange, illustrated by Kadir Nelson: Walking many miles to school in the dusty road, young Coretta Scott knew the unfairness of life in the segregated south.
Birmingham, 1963 by Carole Boston Weatherford 2008 Awardee
New Shoes by Susan Lynn Meyer, illustrated by Eric Velasquez 2016 Awardee
Hot Day on Abbott Avenue by Karen English, with collage art of Javaka Steptoe 2005 Awardee
Now Is Your Time! The African-American Struggle for Freedom by Walter Dean Myers 1992 Awardee
Patrol: An American Soldier in Vietnam by Walter Dean Myers 2003 Awardee
The Village That Vanished written by Ann Grifalconi and illustrated by Kadir Nelson 2003 Awardee
Books help build strong girls
“I Dissent: Ruth Bader Ginsberg Makes Her Mark” by Debbie Levy. (Ages 4-8) This biographical picture book about the notorious Supreme Court justice, tells her story through her famous dissents, or disagreements.
“The Firefly Letters: A Suffragette’s Journey to Cuba” by Margarita Engle. The award-winning poet paints a portrait of early women’s rights pioneer Fredrika Bremer and the journey that transformed her life.
Silver People: Voices from the Panama Canal by Margarita Engle 2015 Awardee
The Surrender Tree: Poems of Cuba’s Struggle for Freedom by Margarita Engle 2009 Awardee
9 Children’s Books to Raise Awareness of Civil Rights
The Youngest Marcher: The Story of Audrey Faye Hendricks, A Young Civil Rights Activist by Cynthia Levinson
We Shall Overcome: The Story of a Song by Debbie Levy
Martin’s Big Words: The Life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. by Doreen Rappaport
Through My Eyes by Ruby Bridges
Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson
…
We’ve Got a Job: The 1963 Birmingham Children’s March by Cynthia Levinson 2013 Awardee
Trouble at the Mines by Doreen Rappaport 1988 Awardee
Through My Eyes by Ruby Bridges 2000 Awardee
Each Kindness written by Jacqueline Woodson, illustrated by E.B. Lewis 2013 Awardee
From the Notebooks of Melanin Sun by Jacqueline Woodson 1996 Awardee
I Hadn’t Meant to Tell You This by Jacqueline Woodson 1995 Awardee
—
The Jane Addams Children’s Book Award annually recognizes children’s books of literary and aesthetic excellence that effectively engage children in thinking about peace, social justice, global community, and equity for all people.