Chapter One
"The Season for Reading" Calendar
We have created a list of theme-oriented selections that are appropriate for the many seasons and holidays of the year. Of course, sharing these books with your young readers at special times will launch you and your child into a full year of educational, entertaining, and enriching books for all seasons.
JANUARY
Winter
It's cold outside, but young readers will enjoy these heartwarming stories about the season.
The Black Snowman [v1-133] Do Like Kyla [v1-27] From My Window The Longest Wait Snow on Snow on Snow [v1-97] The Snowy Day [v1-98]
Martin Luther King Day
Celebrate the life and legacy of this African American icon and American hero.
Happy Birthday, Dr. King! [v1-192] Happy Birthday, Martin Luther King [v1-191] Just Like Martin [v1-368] Let Freedom Ring: A Ballad of Martin Luther King, Jr. [235] Meet Martin Luther King, Jr.: A Man of Peace with a Dream for All People [247] My Dream of Martin Luther King [v1-234]
FEBRUARY
Black History Month
Every month is Black History Month. In this special season, help young readers focus on African American history and heritage through these selections.
Amistad Rising: A Story of Freedom [119] Bound for America: The Forced Migration of Africans to the New World [365] Explore Black History with Wee Pals [169] Through Loona's Door: A Tammy and Owen Adventure with Carter G. Woodson [v1-413] Through My Eyes [442]
Valentine's Day
Give young readers something from the heart-a book about the holiday of love.
Don't Be My Valentine: A Classroom Mystery [163] Hopscotch Love: A Family Treasury of Love Poems [390] Secret Valentine [94] Super-Fine Valentine [317]
MARCH Women's History Month
Women have done it all! Read about many of the African American women who have left their marks on America.
The Bus Ride [143] Dinner at Aunt Connie's House [v1-160] Osceola: Memories of a Sharecropper's Daughter [421] Madam C.J. Walker: Entrepreneur [413] Susie King Taylor: Destined to Be Free [v1-408]
APRIL
Easter
Spring has arrived, marked by Easter, a favorite childhood holiday. Share books about the season of renewal.
Easter Parade [166] Miz Fannie Mae's Fine New Easter Hat [253]
Baseball
It is time for America's favorite pastime. Read stories about the game and some of the legendary African Americans who played it.
The Bat Boy and His Violin [128] Fair Ball!: 14 Great Stars from Baseball's Negro Leagues [378] First in the Field: Baseball Hero Jackie Robinson [379] Leagues Apart: The Men and Times of the Negro Baseball Leagues [232] Teammates [v1-288]
Children's Poetry Week
Broaden young readers' literary education by introducing them to expressive books of poetry written just for them.
A Dime a Dozen [372] Isn't My Name Magical?: Sister and Brother Poems [210] Jump Back, Honey: The Poems of Paul Laurence Dunbar [398] Make a Joyful Sound: Poems for Children by African-American Poets [v1-225] The Palm of My Heart: Poetry by African American Children [v1-392]
MAY
Mother's Day
We celebrate our mothers on a single day in May, but they deserve our love and admiration every day of the year.
In My Momma's Kitchen [206] Flowers for Mommy [v1-33] Gettin' Through Thursday [177] Ma Dear's Apron [v1-222] Read for Me, Mama [289]
JUNE
Father's Day
We love fathers, too! And there are a number of exemplary books that celebrate and pay tribute to these special men in our lives.
Always My Dad [118] Daddy Calls Me Man [24] In Daddy's Arms I Am Tall: African Americans Celebrating Fathers [205] Kevin and His Dad [226] Octopus Hugs [85]
Juneteenth
Expose young readers to the significance of this traditional holiday from African American history.
Freedom's Gifts: A Juneteenth Story [v1-181] Juneteenth Jamboree [v1-213]
JULY
Summer
It's the season for vacations, camp, going to the beach, and other warm-weather activities. Make sure that your young readers are still going to bed with a good book every night.
Gregory Cool [v1-189] Knoxville, Tennessee [v1-65] Lemonade Sun: And Other Summer Poems [233] One Hot Summer Day [v1-87] Summer Wheels [312]
Independence Day
Observe our country's birthday with books about the creation of our nation and the annual celebrations.
Celebration! [147] Come All You Brave Soldiers: Blacks in the Revolutionary War [369] Phoebe the Spy [423]
AUGUST
Family Reunions
Many extended families come together during this season to celebrate their heritage.
Bigmama's [132] Tanya's Reunion [320] Trina's Family Reunion [327] We Had a Picnic This Sunday Past [335]
SEPTEMBER
Back to School
Put young readers in the right frame of mind for their return to school with books about other young students.
Jamaica and the Substitute Teacher [58] Madoulina: A Girl Who Wanted to Go to School [241] My Mom Is My Show-and-Tell [262] Running the Road to ABC [v1-271] Virgie Goes to School with Us Boys [334]
Grandparents' Month
Read about the cherished elders, our grandparents, who are so important in our lives.
Granddaddy's Gift [184] Grandma's Hands [186] Keepers [224] No Mirrors in My Nana's House [84] Sophie [104]
OCTOBER
Halloween
Get in the spirit of this scary, ghostly holiday with stories to thrill and chill young readers.
Celie and the Harvest Fiddler [v1-143] Halloween Monster [v1-45] Jenny Reen and the Jack Muh Lantern [v1-207] Jezebel's Spooky Spot [216] Vampire Bugs: Stories Conjured from the Past [446]
NOVEMBER
National Children's Book Week
Select any favorite book or focus on many of the wonderful African American children's books that have endured the test of time to become classics.
Amazing Grace [v1-121] Aunt Flossie's Hats (and Crab Cakes Later) [v1-123] The Boy and the Ghost [139] Drylongso [375] Tar Beach [v1-287]
Thanksgiving
It's time to give thanks for family, friends, homes, and other blessings. Give young readers books that help them focus on the gifts in their lives.
Because You're Lucky [129] Boundless Grace [138] I Love My Family [v1-52] I Love My Hair! [200] Money Troubles [255]
DECEMBER
Christmas
Books should be on every child's Christmas list, especially some of these seasonal favorites.
An Angel Just Like Me [122] The Bells of Christmas [130] Carol of the Brown King: Nativity Poems [16] Christmas for 10 [22] Christmas in the Big House, Christmas in the Quarters [v1-328]
Kwanzaa
More and more African American families are celebrating this reflective holiday. Present young readers with books to help them understand the significance and rituals of Kwanzaa.
The Children's Book of Kwanzaa: A Guide to Celebrating the Holiday [368] K Is for Kwanzaa: A Kwanzaa Alphabet Book [223] Kwanzaa: A Family Affair [404] Kwanzaa: Africa Lives in a New World Festival [405] Seven Days of Kwanzaa: A Holiday Step Book [95]
Books for Babies and Preschoolers
The minds of toddlers and preschoolers are just waiting to be filled with ideas, information, and impressions to help them operate in the world. There is no other period in their lives when they will learn as much in such a brief span of time. So this is the ideal period to introduce them to books that will set the stage for later learning. We have selected a number of books that offer basic preschool skills. Afro-Bets Book of Shapes [1], C Is for City [13], Christmas for 10 [22], and others teach shapes, counting, reciting the alphabet, phonics, and other pre-reading skills.
Read these books to your child as often as possible. Children at this age learn through repetition and actually enjoy the familiarity of a favorite story. The books need to be colorful and attractive to appeal to the young eye. Often books that are written in rhyme make a lasting impression on young minds.
Reading should be a fun activity that young children enjoy. So we have included dozens of books for this age group that are guaranteed to capture young imaginations and bring them back for more, more, and more! Favorite fairy tales like Hansel and Gretel [17] and Little Red Riding Hood [67] are told with contemporary twists and bright illustrations. Young readers can also escape into brilliant fantasies like Kofi and the Butterflies and Swinging on a Rainbow, or giggle to the nonsense in books like Maebelle's Suitcase [68], Bear on a Bike [7], and Julius [64].
Make sure that your toddlers and preschoolers get plenty of exposure to selections that are just for fun. They can learn in these early years that a book is an excellent alternative to video entertainment.
As he or she grows, a young child needs to be nurtured as a whole person. As parents we can feed the spirit as well as the mind, with beautiful books like Give Me Grace: A Child's Daybook of Prayers [142] to help build spirituality. We can offer books like Happy to Be Nappy [48], Cherish Me [20], and No Mirrors in My Nana's House [84] to help develop positive self-images and racial identities. And we can expose children to the arts even at this early age, through books like Dance [25] or Carol of the Brown King: Nativity Poems [16].
The key is to offer your young children a wide variety of books that expose them to new concepts and ideas that may help them discover what they have within and learn more about the world outside of themselves.
(Continues...)
Excerpted from Black Book's Galore! by Donna Rand Toni Trent Parker Excerpted by permission.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.
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