https://www.ericvelasquez.com/childrensbooks daily 0.75 2026-03-16 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fcd6627cd8500165ad042dd/1616978062262-1V35V097IJ2SXLBQCH80/Cover_SheWasTheFirst.jpg Recent Children's Books - She Was The First: The Trailblazing Life of Shirley Chisholm By Katheryn Russell-Brown Lee and Low Books Inc. NY A timely, inspiring picture book biography of the dynamic twentieth-century educator, activist, and politician Shirley Chisholm. Winner of the 2021 NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literature for Children https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fcd6627cd8500165ad042dd/1643656118322-CJXV8G05UCXNR3X20C9H/RBG-W.jpg Recent Children's Books - RUTH OBJECTS: THE LIFE OF RUTH BADER GINSBURG by Doreen Rappaport, Illustrated by Eric Velasquez Little, Brown Books for Young Readers Rappaport adds to her Big Words series with this well-researched picture biography of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. As with all books in the series, quotations—set apart via color and larger text size—appear on each spread, bringing Ginsberg’s own voice to her story (“Traditional law firms were just beginning to hire Jews, but to be a woman, a Jew, and a mother to boot, that combination was a bit much”). Velasquez (Schomburg: The Man Who Built a Library) creates pared-down compositions that immediately draw readers into Ginsberg’s facial expressions and emotions. The realistic oil paintings depict the justice early on as a cello-playing, baton-twirling teenager who loses her mother just before her high school graduation. She rebuffs mid-20th-century social norms, becoming a spouse and parent while breaking ground as a female law student, professor, lawyer, and, eventually, the second woman justice on the Supreme Court. The concise narrative weaves in five of Ginsburg’s landmark court cases, in which she champions women’s rights and gender parity. A timeline, author and illustrator notes, and a selected bibliography wrap up this very handsome addition to the growing collection of RBG literature for young readers. Praise for Ruth Objects: ALSC Notable Children’s Books 2021 RISE List Top Ten Bank Street College of Education Best Books of 2021 "Velasquez's arresting jacket portrait of Ginsburg, superimposed on a facsimile of the U.S. Constitution, conveys a woman of purpose; Rappaport's biography, largely focused on Ginsburg's work for gender equality, reinforces this first impression."―Horn Book "Striking."―Booklist "Insightful and fascinating."―Kirkus Reviews "[A] well-researched picture book biography."―Publishers Weekly https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fcd6627cd8500165ad042dd/1643649281029-FLSSOPC5UY21THTO1DM8/OStew4web2.jpg Recent Children's Books https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fcd6627cd8500165ad042dd/1643734294301-7GRXLF2KFC352191JLG4/mambo_muchoMambo_WEVremix.jpg Recent Children's Books - ¡MAMBO MUCHO MAMBO! by Dean Robbins, illustrated by Eric Velasquez Publisher ‏ : ‎ Candlewick New York City’s desegregated Palladium Ballroom springs to life with a diverse 1940s cast in this jazzy picture-book tribute to the history of mambo and Latin jazz. Millie danced to jazz in her Italian neighborhood. Pedro danced to Latin songs in his Puerto Rican neighborhood. It was the 1940s in New York City, and they were forbidden to dance together . . . until first a band and then a ballroom broke the rules. Machito and His Afro-Cubans hit the scene with a brand-new sound, blending jazz trumpets and saxophones with Latin maracas and congas creating Latin jazz, music for the head, the heart, and the hips. Then the Palladium Ballroom issued a bold challenge to segregation and threw open its doors to all. Illustrated with verve and told through real-life characters who feature in an afterword, ¡Mambo Mucho Mambo! portrays the power of music and dance to transcend racial, religious, and ethnic boundaries. Reviews ★Robbins’s snappy language and smoking turn of phrase brings the mambo and all its followers to life. Lázaro’s Spanish translation sizzles. . . . Velasquez’s illustrations send sparks flying off each full-bleed spread. . . . Fiery and rhythmic storytelling surges to the beat of the conga—a ­must-have selection for all ages.—School Library Journal (starred review) Robbins’s prose is as musical as his subject. . . Velasquez’s characteristic, near-photorealistic illustrations, rendered in oil paint in a palette reflecting the time, add a dynamic fluidity to the historical atmosphere of this enlightening narrative nonfiction title.—Publishers Weekly Dynamic text goes hand in hand with vibrant, motion-filled illustrations to tell the story of the Latin sound that swept through New York and then the country in the 1940s and ’50s. . . . Exuberant, just like the dance.—Kirkus Reviews In Robbins and Velasquez’s hands, this early challenge to segregation makes for a lively, compelling piece of history.—The Horn Book https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fcd6627cd8500165ad042dd/1667858868803-R2Q2MEMLR3D5K6W3XHQB/GoingPlacesWeb.jpg Recent Children's Books - GOING PLACES: VICTOR HUGO GREEN AND HIS GLORIOUS BOOK By Tonya Bolden Publisher: Quill Tree Books / Harpercollins Publishers In the vein of Hidden Figures comes a nonfiction picture book about the Green Book, a travel guide by Victor Hugo Green, a Black postal worker from Harlem, made to help African Americans stay safe while traveling during segregation. As a mail carrier, Victor Hugo Green traveled across New Jersey every day. But with Jim Crow laws enforcing segregation since the late 1800s, traveling as a Black person in the US could be stressful, even dangerous. So in the 1930s, Victor created a guide—The Negro Motorist Green-Book—compiling information on where to go and what places to avoid so that Black travelers could have a safe and pleasant time. While the Green Book started out small, over the years it became an expansive, invaluable resource for Black people throughout the country—all in the hopes that one day such a guide would no longer be needed. Award-winning author Tonya Bolden and acclaimed illustrator Eric Velasquez shine a light on this little-known history of Victor Hugo Green and the deep impact of his incredible book on generations of Black families in America. Reviews: ★'Bolden’s bold, strong, conversational prose sets the scene, representing courageous, talented Black people strategizing to keep their dignity in an unfair world. Velasquez beautifully brings to life settings, families, and communities. A richly layered, powerful introduction to an entrepreneur and the problems he solved.' — Kirkus Reviews (starred review) ★“In descriptive text and an upbeat voice, Bolden recalls the Black mail carrier from Harlem who recognized that Black Americans were going places. Velasquez lends a fitting and beautiful scrapbook effect to the story. An effective way to address Jim Crow laws and segregation as well as resourcefulness and determination.' — Booklist (starred review) ★'Bolden has perfectly combined the painful story of Jim Crow and segregation with the strength and determination of Black Americans to live a full life. The illustrations pull readers along on this American experience known too well to some and a revelation for others. A highly recommended addition to any collection.' — School Library Journal (starred review) ★'Bolden recounts the moving story of mail carrier Victor Hugo Green. Working images of paper ephemera into the pages, Velasquez melds portraiture and background illustration, producing a visually engaging account of history in the making.' — Publishers Weekly (starred review) ★'With lively language that hovers between poetry and prose, Bolden’s biographical account carefully introduces the intersections of historical preconditions that led to the creation of Green Book and Green’s disposition and resilience. Velasquez’s smooth oil paint illustrations radiantly depict everyday Black folks on the go.' — Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books (starred review) 'Velasquez’s scrapbook-style, painterly vignettes capture period detail and nimbly complement Bolden’s conversational free-verse text.' — Horn Book Magazine https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fcd6627cd8500165ad042dd/1759956816722-SQ2MAB1DNHZXYGODO817/SCHOMBURG_WEB.jpg Recent Children's Books - Schomburg: The Man Who Built a Library By Carole Boston Weatherford In luminous paintings and arresting poems, two of children’s literature’s top African-American scholars track Arturo Schomburg’s quest to correct history. Where is our historian to give us our side? Arturo asked. Amid the scholars, poets, authors, and artists of the Harlem Renaissance stood an Afro–Puerto Rican named Arturo Schomburg. This law clerk’s life’s passion was to collect books, letters, music, and art from Africa and the African diaspora and bring to light the achievements of people of African descent through the ages. When Schomburg’s collection became so big it began to overflow his house (and his wife threatened to mutiny), he turned to the New York Public Library, where he created and curated a collection that was the cornerstone of a new Negro Division. A century later, his groundbreaking collection, known as the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, has become a beacon to scholars all over the world. Reviews: ★' All of the book's details paint Schomburg as an admirable, flawed, likable, passionate man whose lasting legacy, Harlem's Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, opens its doors to all who would learn more about the people its founder knew had been left out of the written record. A must-read for a deeper understanding of a well-connected genius who enriched the cultural road map for African-Americans and books about them. —Kirkus Reviews (starred review) ★' Lifelong bibliophile Arturo Schomburg would be pleased by Weatherford’s prose-poem biography, which praises his passion for researching and collecting books, manuscripts, and other written materials relating black heritage and history...As with her previous book Voice of Freedom (2015), Weatherford illuminates a person well worth knowing. A rich book to add to all collections. —Booklist (starred review) ★' Through text and art, Weatherford and Velasquez craft a winning portrait of both collector and his collection...Schomburg’s collection was donated to the New York Public Library and now boasts over 10 million items. This excellent work of history illuminates Schomburg and his legendary collection for a new generation—it belongs in all public and school libraries. —School Library Journal (starred review) ★' In graceful free verse, Weatherford delivers a remarkable tribute to Arturo Schomburg...Schomburg’s ambitions, scholarship, and accomplishments were tremendous—“There was no field of human endeavor/ that he did not till with his determined hand”—and Weatherford and Velasquez more than do justice to them. —Publishers Weekly (starred review) ★' With great respect to the man's riveting life story, Caldecott and Coretta Scott King Honors author Carole Boston Weatherford relates through narrative poetry the story of Afro-Puerto Rican immigrant Arturo Schomburg. While each poem in Schomburg: The Man Who Built a Library can stand alone as a single snapshot in the literary life of Schomburg, Weatherford's portrayal of the bibliophilic law clerk is so wondrous, readers won't be able to resist turning the pages to learn more. —Shelf Awareness for Readers (starred review) Velasquez’s richly detailed oil paintings aptly capture Schomburg’s zeal for learning and for teaching others...A must-read about a bibliophile extraordinaire. —Horn Book https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fcd6627cd8500165ad042dd/1759960376261-LGS9T8MI4VV01FMD693J/Outspoken_WebJacket.jpg Recent Children's Books - Outspoken: Paul Robeson, Ahead of His Time: A One-Man Show By Carole Boston Weatherford Paul Robeson rose to prominence during the Harlem Renaissance, known for his extraordinary vocal, dramatic, and oratory skills. But he was a true Renaissance man: an accomplished athlete, a bright intellect, and a passionate supporter for humanitarian causes. He displayed his talents on many stages: the pulpit where he filled in for his minister father; on debate, football, baseball, basketball, and track teams; in college and law school classrooms; on the theatrical stage and the silver screen; and behind the podium. Paul Robeson became internationally renowned as a singer and actor, and as his fame grew, so did his unflinching activism against racial injustice. He used the power of his voice to speak out as America’s conscience, but when his nation was not yet willing to listen, he found a more-supportive reception in the USSR. In this moving birth-to-death biography, Carole Boston Weatherford’s poetic first-person narrative, interlaced with excerpts from African American spirituals, pairs with dynamic illustrations by Eric Velasquez capturing Paul Robeson’s commanding presence. Back matter includes a time line, source notes, and bibliography for readers inspired to learn more. Reviews: [Robeson's] strength of character as an “unbending truth teller and troublemaker” comes through clearly in the illustrations as well as the words; in montages of images, many based on contemporary photographs, Velasquez poses him heroically, whether in charismatic performance, speaking out defiantly against racism and social injustice, or, finally, broken down by poor health. —Booklist (starred review) In comprehensive first-person free verse and oil portraiture, Boston Weatherford and Velasquez reverently draw the life of multifaceted performer, athlete, and activist Paul Robeson. —Publishers Weekly Informative, insightful, and comprehensive, this book will be a valuable addition to reference shelves, classrooms, and anywhere older elementary children are drawn to learning more about legendary American changemakers. This inspiring volume leaves nothing out. —Kirkus Reviews https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fcd6627cd8500165ad042dd/1759979924536-9A4ZGKN3HW9442NUR862/GrandmaCoverweb.jpg Recent Children's Books - Grandma's Records By Eric Velasquez Every summer, Eric goes to live with his grandmother in El Barrio (Spanish Harlem) while his parents work. Through the long hot days, Grandma fills her apartment with the blaring horns and conga drums of Bomba y Plena, salsa, and merengue-the music she grew up with in Puerto Rico-sharing her memories and passions with Eric. But Eric sees Grandma in a new light when she gets them tickets to hear their favorite band in concert. The music sounds so different than it does at home on their scratchy records. And then the lead singer serenades Grandma right in front of the whole audience! Join Eric Velasquez on a magical journey through time and across cultures, as a young boy's passion for music and art is forged by a powerful bond between generations. Reviews: “Velasquez proves himself adept at evoking time and place as well as a loving family bond. The narrator spends his boyhood summers at his grandmother's apartment in Spanish Harlem, where Grandma introduces him to the sounds of merengue and conga, dances with him and tells stories of growing up in Puerto Rico.” ―Publishers Weekly. “This heartfelt story has a melody all its own.” ―Kirkus Reviews https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fcd6627cd8500165ad042dd/1773673233095-SMGM0UF3PQNN2NEZPB7X/HiRezPB%26B-4web.jpg Recent Children's Books https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fcd6627cd8500165ad042dd/1773673505947-UXAXSQN88RCVOQPWZ89X/MyUNMartinweb.jpg Recent Children's Books https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fcd6627cd8500165ad042dd/1773674002212-WRL2HICWQTJCFFE1J0YT/Twicecover.jpg Recent Children's Books https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fcd6627cd8500165ad042dd/1773674142910-XY7KKE6FZ10S4E1BKOHL/Voicescover.jpg Recent Children's Books https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fcd6627cd8500165ad042dd/1773672928601-O7G641W7U5MI6NJW3G0P/NewShoesWeb.jpg Recent Children's Books - NEW SHOES by Susan Lynn Meyer Ella Mae is used to wearing her cousin's hand-me-down shoes—but when her latest pair is already too tight, she's thrilled at the chance to get new shoes. But at the shoe store, Ella Mae and her mother have to wait until there are no white customers to serve first. She doesn't get to try anything on, either—her mother traces her feet onto a sheet of paper, and the salesman brings them a pair he thinks will fit. Disappointed by her treatment, Ella Mae and her cousin Charlotte hatch a plan to help others in their community find better-fitting shoes without humiliation. Eric Velasquez' realistic oil paintings bring life to this story of a young girl's determination in the face of injustice. The book includes an author's note from Susan Lynn Meyer, discussing the historical context of the story and how the Civil Rights Movement worked to abolish unfair laws like the ones Ella Mae encounters. A 2016 NAACP Image Award Nominee, and a Jane Addams Children's Book Award winner. From School Library Journal Gr 1–3—Ella Mae usually gets her new school shoes as hand-me-downs from her older cousin, Charlotte. One day, Charlotte's old shoes are too tight for Ella Mae and so the girl gets to buy a brand new pair of shoes. At Johnson's General Store, however, Ella Mae is treated differently from another customer with "yellow pigtails." The treatment is because of the color of her skin: she is served second even though she arrived first, and she is not allowed to try on any of the beautiful new shoes. With a little brainstorming and some hard work, Ella Mae and Charlotte come up with a plan to allow everyone to try on shoes before they buy them. The illustrations paint an accurate historical picture of the 1950s and do well enough to bring out the characters' emotions, which may not otherwise be noticed in the text. An author's note at the end explains Jim Crow, the civil rights movement, and the evolution of language used to describe African Americans. The use of a lesser-known Jim Crow situation makes it stand out from other titles dedicated to this topic, but the message is very similar. VERDICT A decent introduction to the history of segregation in the U.S.—Brittany Staszak, St. Charles Public Library, IL Review "Highly recommended; both a revealing glimpse into one aspect of America's institutionalized racism and inspiration for kids to create their own change."—Kirkus Reviews "The girls' optimism and determination is almost palpable . . . [Velasquez'] heroines literally and unequivocally shine through."—Publishers Weekly https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fcd6627cd8500165ad042dd/1773673139300-H9HVNFV0UG4HO1TO0CFD/BongoWeb.jpg Recent Children's Books - LOOKING FOR BONGO Where could Bongo be? Help a young boy find his beloved toy—and figure out how he got lost to begin with. The boy knows Bongo was right there with him this morning—but suddenly, Bongo is missing. He asks his whole family if they've seen the stuffed toy. "Yo no sé," says abuela, "I don't know." Mom and Dad haven't seen him either. And Gato just meows and runs away. When he finds Bongo, the boy is thrilled—but he still doesn't understand how his toy ended up there. So he sets a trap to catch the Bongo thief. . . . Eric Velasquez's detailed, expressive illustrations follow the boy's investigation throughout his home, giving a glimpse at a warm, multi-generational family. Reviews: * "An Afro Latino boy searches for his missing stuffed toy in this tender tribute to family, music, and childhood. . . . this work's celebration of the diversity within Latino culture will warm hearts. A sweet tale recommended for diverse toddler storytimes and one-on-one sharing."—School Library Journal, Starred Review "Velasquez's portrayal of a family that is both black and Latino (a rarity in children's books) is refreshing. . . . this simple story with a twist should have wide appeal. Darling."—Kirkus Reviews "Velasquez's text is a simple mix of English and easily decipherable Spanish . . . The illustrations of the narrator's quest are active, consisting of many gestures and close-up facial expressions, and the colors are warm creams, blues, and oranges. Home life is multigenerational and loving."—Booklist A Bank Street Best Children's Book of the Year https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fcd6627cd8500165ad042dd/1773672591152-813TRVEPAC2Q59BYYFUH/GGiftweb.jpg Recent Children's Books - GRANDMA'S GIFT This prequel to Eric Velasquez's biographical picture book Grandma's Records is the story of a Christmas holiday that young Eric spends with his grandmother. After they prepare their traditional Puerto Rican Christmas celebration, Eric and Grandma visit the Metropolitan Museum of Art for a school project, where he sees a painting by Diego Velasquez and realizes for the first time that he could be an artist when he grows up. Grandma witnesses his fascination, and presents Eric with the perfect Christmas gift-a set of paints-to use in his first steps toward becoming an artist. A heart-warming story of self-discovery, Grandma's Gift is a celebration of the special bond between a grandparent and grandchild. Reviews: “2011 Pura Belpre Award for Illustration Winner” ―. “Touching.” ―Kirkus Reviews “Velasquez's full-bleed paintings transport readers to another time and place and expertly capture the characters' personalities and emotions. A gift, indeed.” ―School Library Journal https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fcd6627cd8500165ad042dd/1773673890129-WY618R9783ZJ4SNP8NYI/Wordscover.jpg Recent Children's Books - MY UNCLE MARTIN'S WORDS for AMERICA By Angela Farris Watkins , PHD A picture-book tribute to the legacy of civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr. In this inspirational story about Martin Luther King Jr.—told from the perspective of his niece, Angela—readers learn how King used words of love and peace to effectively fight for African Americans’ civil rights. The book focuses on words and phrases from King’s speeches, such as justice, freedom and equality. Angela Farris Watkins, PhD demonstrates the importance of her uncle’s language in bringing about changes during the Civil Rights Movement, from his “I Have a Dream” speech to the peace march in Alabama. Including a timeline and a glossary, this stirring and poignant book is a wonderful introduction to Martin Luther King Jr. and his powerful message of nonviolence. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fcd6627cd8500165ad042dd/1773674344534-YSB8DF5MUM1GWH70UUNP/Mayacover.png Recent Children's Books - MY FRIEND MAYA LOVES to DANCE by Cheryl Willis Hudson A young narrator tells readers about her friend Maya, who absolutely loves to dance. In this rhyming picture book, Maya attends a lively dance class. She can’t get enough of dance: the costumes, the grand entrances, the pirouettes, the music, the final bow, and the magic of recitals. She even loves the hard work of practice. But why doesn’t her friend dance, too? The pages themselves seem to dance, thanks to the charming verse of Cheryl Willis Hudson and the vibrant colors and motion of Eric Velasquez’s paintings. Review: From School Library Journal Kindergarten-Grade 3—A delightful story in which a girl, unseen until the end, tells of her friend Maya's love of dance. Whether dressed in a leotard and tutu, or a shirt and jeans, or wearing kente cloth, "Maya dances with grace/And a look of pride on her face." Full-page, fluid illustrations, rendered in oil on watercolor paper, feature a willowy, long-limbed African-American child who dances to the music of jazz, blues, rap, gospel, Bach, and reggae. When she taps "on slick wooden floors," wearing a red vest, gray pants, white gloves, and a hat, she's accompanied by four boys similarly costumed. Maya even performs at the mall for a small audience that includes the narrator, a girl in a wheelchair. The last, touching page reveals Maya and her friend smiling at readers. A simple, sweet story about music, dance, and friendship.—Mary N. Oluonye, Shaker Heights Public Library, OH Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fcd6627cd8500165ad042dd/1773697202296-ZLW4YBS2VZQZS4EG1875/ThirstWeb.jpg Recent Children's Books - A THIRST FOR HOME by Christine Ieronimo Perfect for common core, this story based on the true events of a young girl's transition from the poverty of Ethiopia to life in America will be an inspiration for young readers Alemitu lives with her mother in a poor village in Ethiopia, where she must walk miles for water and hunger roars in her belly. Even though life is difficult, she dreams of someday knowing more about the world. When her mother has no choice but to leave her at an orphanage to give her a chance at a better life, an American family adopts Alemitu. She becomes Eva in her new home in America, and although her life there is better in so many ways, she'll never forget her homeland and the mother who gave up so much for her. Told through the lens that water connects all people everywhere, this eye-opening, emotional story will get readers thinking about the world beyond their own. Review: Tears, rain, puddles: water keeps Eva Alemitu connected to Emaye, the mother she left behind in Ethiopia, as Eva adjusts to her new life in the U.S. In this hauntingly bittersweet tale, inspired partly by the author’s own life, Ieronimo imagines the heartbreak of a mother and daughter forced apart by hunger and poverty. The result is bleakly realistic, and readers will be drawn to Eva’s conflicting feelings of longing for her biological mother, and security with her adoptive family in America. Velasquez’s light-infused illustrations capture the quiet dignity of Emaye’s grief and Eva’s tentative acceptance, and perfectly complement the tender tone of the text. Perceptive readers will be too moved to be satisfied with the happy conclusion and will appreciate the story for its complexity rather than its plot. This book can be read as one of a growing number of immigration stories. An author’s note provides context and prompts for kids to take action. Grades 4-6. --Amina Chaudhri https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fcd6627cd8500165ad042dd/1773698433618-U78KN13H6VIXBKRXNWIH/9_BMcover.jpg Recent Children's Books - A BEAUTIFUL MOON by Tonya Bolden Critically acclaimed author Tonya Bolden teams up with award-winning illustrator Eric Velasquez to create Beautiful Moon: A Child’s Prayer, a richly painted and emotionally complex picture book that celebrates prayer and kindness while recognizing the diversity of the world around us. A young boy wakes. He has forgotten to say his prayers. Outside his window, a beautiful harvest moon illuminates the city around him and its many inhabitants. As the moon slowly makes its way across the heavens, the boy offers a simple prayer for the homeless, the hungry, and others. Reviews: “The book offers young readers plenty to look at, along with a simple message about the way prayer unites everyone, as the multicultural subjects in Velasquez’s gorgeous illustrations make clear.” —Publishers Weekly (Starred Review) “The diverse people sharing the night, the realistic dilemmas of the people in need, and the handsome presentation should serve well as bedtime reading for families practicing daily prayer.” —School Library Journal https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fcd6627cd8500165ad042dd/1773699620097-Q7L8GZ2JEQ0FH7MW9W2W/HensenWeb.jpg Recent Children's Books - I MATTHEW HENSEN by Carole Boston Weatherford Matthew Henson was not meant to lead an ordinary life. His dreams had sails. They took him from the port of Baltimore, around the world, and north to the pole. No amount of fear, cold, hunger, or injustice could keep him from tasting adventure and exploring the world. He learned to survive in the Arctic wilderness, and he stood by Admiral Peary for years on end, all for the sake of his goal. And finally, after decades of facing danger and defying the odds, he reached the North Pole and made history. At last, Henson had proved himself as an explorer-and as a man. Review: Starred ReviewWritten in Henson’s first-person voice, each plain, eight-line poem begins with resistance to the prejudice and false perceptions the narrator experienced (“I did not sail to the tropics just to launder / shirts and cook meals”; “I meant / to prove myself as an explorer”), as step by step he earns Peary’s trust and sails with him to Greenland. After several trips, during which he learned Inuit and befriended the indigenous people, “Peary picked me to go all the way to the Arctic, vowing / he could not make it without me.” Including portraits and dynamic action scenes, the beautifully textured pastels show the icy landscape, the tough explorers, and the grim situation at home, as when Henson stands next to a “Whites Only!” sign, meeting hate while “exploring my own land.” In the final climactic scene Peary, Henson, and four Eskimos (unnamed, unfortunately) are on the ice at the North Pole. The twist from negative to triumphant in each poem and the suspense that builds to the final journey make this a great combination of adventure in the wild landscape and personal struggle. Includes a detailed final note. Grades 2-4. --Hazel Rochman https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fcd6627cd8500165ad042dd/1773701418545-NKBBWIRA3T48RQ73YYJO/POF031.jpg Recent Children's Books - THE PRICE OF FREEDOM By Dennis Brindell Fradin and Judith Bloom Fradin When John Price took a chance at freedom by crossing the frozen Ohio river from Kentucky into Ohio one January night in 1856, the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 was fully enforced in every state of the union. But the townspeople of Oberlin, Ohio, believed there that all people deserved to be free, so Price started a new life in town-until a crew of slave-catchers arrived and apprehended him. When the residents of Oberlin heard of his capture, many of them banded together to demand his release in a dramatic showdown that risked their own freedom. Paired for the first time, highly acclaimed authors Dennis & Judith Fradin and Pura Belpré award-winning illustrator Eric Velasquez, provide readers with an inspiring tale of how one man's journey to freedom helped spark an abolitionist movement. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fcd6627cd8500165ad042dd/1773673688266-E81LFRCM88M8LDZSO2IT/SweetSmellofRosesweb.jpg Recent Children's Books by Angela Johnson Two young girls not only witness but help to change history in this inspiring and urgent Civil Rights-era picture book by three-time Coretta Scott King Award winner Angela Johnson. There's a sweet, sweet smell in the air as two young girls sneak out of their house, down the street, and across town to where men and women are gathered, ready to march for freedom and justice. Inspired by the countless young people who took a stand against the forces of injustice, two Coretta Scott King Honorees, Angela Johnson and Eric Velasquez, offer a stirring yet jubilant glimpse of the youth involvement that played an invaluable role in the Civil Rights movement. Reviews: "The pervasive smell of roses is an effective metaphor for the scent of freedom in the air, and Johnson's poetic text is powerful." -- Horn Book "This book is not only about segregation; it's also about the crowds of people 'walking our way toward freedom,' the thrilling portrait of Dr. King, and the two brave kids who cross the line." -- Booklist "Powerful and moving." -- Kirkus Reviews https://www.ericvelasquez.com/new-index-1 daily 0.75 2022-11-05 https://www.ericvelasquez.com/new-gallery daily 0.75 2026-03-16 https://www.ericvelasquez.com/home-page-1 daily 1.0 2026-03-17