February Book Reviews
Enjoy the great scholarship of literature available for Black History Month.
By Selene S. Vasquez

BIOGRAPHY: AGES 8 THRU 12A straightforward and moving style of biographical narration. All the pivotal events in the life of this great leader of the twentieth century are related with breathtaking collage illustrations that inspire a greater depth of feeling for the civil rights movement, the magnificent march on Washington, and King’s incomprehensible assassination.

POETRY AND SONG: AGES 10 - 12A vigorous poetic tribute to the Black Church: “Cradle, too, was she for creative fire: where Aretha, Leontye, Sam, Dinah, Della first found voice...” Lively words set in bold type with the directness of caricature artwork. The resilience of the African American community is made clear with each rolling verse.

FICTION: AGES 8 THRU 12With “four little tufts” of corn–rowed hair resembling more of a bird’s nest, Bintou longs for the braids of the older women of her West African village. Rhythmic sentences and dramatic folk style art accompanies this exploration of ethnically defined ideals of personal beauty.

NON-FICTION: AGES 6 THRU 8A child without schooling, Victorian era Mary Kingsley cared ceaselessly for her invalid mother. With books as her only childhood companions, the persevering Kingsley eventually journeys to the unexplored territories of Africa and finds that giant of all continents to be her suitable home forever.

Selene S. Vasquez is a media specialist at Orange Brook Elementary School in Hollywood, Florida. She is formerly a children’s librarian for the New York Public Library.

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