Children's Books: Coretta Scott King Book Awards

The Coretta Scott King Book Awards are given annually to outstanding African American authors and illustrators of books for children and young adults that demonstrate an appreciation of African American culture and universal human values.  The award commemorates the life and work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and honors his wife, Mrs. Coretta Scott King, for her courage and determination to continue the work for peace and world brotherhood. 

http://www.ala.org/rt/emiert/coretta-scott-king-book-awards-all-recipients-1970-present

One of the things I really enjoyed about this list is that the books I found seemed to focus on celebrating artists. I don't see any evidence that it is deliberate, except possibly the focus on culture, but seeing the way artists attempt to capture art, dance, and music was really fascinating.

Little Melba and Her Big Trombone by Katheryn Russell-Brown, illustrated by Frank Morrison

Trombone Shorty by Troy Andrews, illustrated by Bryan Collier

It is not just that these are both about trombone players, but they are both artists I have reviewed, even having seen Trombone Shorty live. That was a neat connection. I am more fond of Frank Morrison's art, which does a wonderful job of creating a time and place, but it may be more helpful for some children that Trombone Shorty is playing now. They could see him. They could practice like him. Both books are about gifted artists, but those gifts were helped not just by their hard work, but also with helping hands in their environments. There is a good sense of community, especially for New Orleans for Trombone Shorty.

http://sporkful.blogspot.com/2018/02/band-review-melba-liston.html
http://sporkful.blogspot.com/2017/03/band-review-trombone-shorty.html

Josephine: The Dazzling Life of Josephine Baker by Patricia Hruby Powell, illustrated by Christian Robinson

Firebird: Ballerina Misty Copeland Shows a Young Girl How to Dance Like the Firebird by Misty Copeland, illustrated by Christopher Myers

I was not sure how well Josephine Baker's life would work in a children's book, but they even show the bananas and it is still fine. I was impressed with that. Very engaging artwork by Robinson, and it is easy to take a different slant with Baker's story, but this is inspiring and it works.

The art is a bit modern for my taste in Firebird, but the way her dance is spread over the city is inventive and holds interest. I also appreciate the overall message, wherein a young ballerina does not believe in what she can achieve, but finds inspiration and encouragement through Copeland.

Radiant Child: The Story of Young Artist Jean-Michel Basquiat by Javaka Steptoe

This handles some of his traumas and difficulties very well, which I think makes it a very useful book. Steptoe does the illustrations on found wood, which makes the artwork stand out visually, and feels like an appropriate tribute for Basquiat.

Nelson Mandela by Kadir Nelson

The artwork is amazingly realistic. The content might be a bit much for younger children; I would think appropriate for eight and up. Except I think this might also be the book I accidentally got in Spanish, so my appraisal may not be completely fair. I mean, I know Spanish, but there are things that might have come across differently in English and I wouldn't know.

Little Melba and Josephine were my definite favorites, where you should just take some time to appreciate the pictures.

The other thing that was interesting is that even though at this point I was not seeking out anything other than picture books, I ended up reading one of their Honors books (Long Way Down) based on seeing a friend's review via Goodreads.

More on that tomorrow.

The other thing that I hope comes through from these reviews collectively is an appreciation for how many wonderful books are out there. You can just keep finding more and more, and the supply never needs to run out.

Don't worry about missing some; just find it exhilarating that they are there.