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Book Reviews

Your Legacy: A Bold Reclaiming of Our Enslaved History by Schele Williams (A Book Review)

Eyes That Speak to the Stars by Joanna Jo (A Book Review)

Opal Lee and What it Means to Be Free (A Book Review)

Carla and the Christmas Cornbread: A Book Review

Notable Native People: A Book Review

Cover Reveal: Nigel and the Moon by Antwan Eady and Gracey Zhang

Brown Girls Reading: A Promised Land by Barack Obama A Joint Book Review with Charnaie Gordon & Nicole Blades

The Last Mirror on the Left by Lamar Giles (A Book Review)

All Because You Matter by Tami Charles & Bryan Collier (A Book Review)

I Am Every Good Thing by Derrick Barnes & Gordon C. James (A Book Review)

Multicultural Children’s Book Day: The Unstoppable Garrett Morgan + Barefoot Books Review #ReadYourWorld

Freedom Bird by Jerdine Nolen (A Book Review)

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Mae Makes a Way

Do you know the story of Mae Reeves? She was a little-known pioneering milliner who specialized in making custom hats. In 1942, she became one of the first Black women to own her own business, Mae's Millinery Shop on South Street in the heart of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Mae learned how to sew and cook after her parents died at the age of 14. By age 16, Mae graduated from high school and started teacher's college.

Mae's business attracted celebrity clients like Lena Horne, Ella Fitzgerald, and Marian Anderson. In addition to being a successful business, Mae's Millinery Shop also served as a community gathering space where people mingled regardless of class and race.

Mae Reeves retired at the age of 85 and passed away when she was 104. Today, people can visit the National Museum of African American History and Culture @nmaahc to see two recreated rooms from Mae’s Millinery Shop and admire the hats and fascinators that drew in clientele for the 56 years the store was open.

Did you already know this history? 👇🏾

Mae Makes a Way publishes May 24, 2022, but can be pre-ordered now wherever books are sold. Find the direct link in today’s stories.

@olugbemisolarhudayperkovich @andreapippins @smithsonian_books @nmaahc @smithsonian

#maemakesaway #maereevesmillinery #maereeveshats #maereeves #millinersofinstagram #millinerycouture #millinerymaker #hatsofinstagram

The World Belonged to Us

Remember, how as a kid, you could play outside until the sun went down and not get bored? Games like Tag, Double Dutch, Hide-and-Seek, and Kick the Can just to name a few. Reading The World Belonged to Us filled me with nostalgia and made me reminisce about my childhood. #penguinkidspartner

This book is a wonderful reminder that there are so many adventures to be found outside in your neighborhood that don’t cost any money. Oh, the memories of being able to play for hours on end using an old aluminum can or sidewalk chalk!

With bright, eye-catching pencil and digital art illustrations, The World Belonged to Us does an amazing job recapturing the joy and freedom of childhood summers in Brooklyn, New York.

Although the backdrop of this book is Brooklyn, this community of children and families could exist anywhere. In fact, this WAS my neighborhood where I grew up. Everything about this book filled me with so much joy as I read each page.

Although times have changed since my childhood, the fact still remains that some of most important things to live a full and meaningful life are family, close friends, community, and traditions. All of those things and more are on display in this delightful book.
 (This book is also available in Spanish, as El mundo era nuestro!)

What we’re some of your favorite outdoor childhood games? 👇🏾

@penguinkids
@jacqueline_woodson
@studioespinosaworks

#theworldbelongedtous #newreleasetuesday #pubday #newreleasebooks #jacquelinewoodson

It’s a Sign!, written by award-winning sibling duo Jarrett and Jerome Pumphrey, is the 9th book in New York Times best-selling author and illustrator Mo Willems’ Elephant and Piggie Like Reading! early reader series. #ad

This story follows four fox friends who have an idea to form a club. Each friend has a unique skill set that will be beneficial to the club like folding paper hats and writing.

The one thing the friends are not so good at is choosing a name for their club. They need a sign to help them find the perfect club name. How will they decide?

Themes of friendship and teamwork are on full display in this fun read aloud. The fox friends, One, Two, Kat, and Four, are new lively characters my kids enjoyed. Readers may be inspired to start a club of their own to pursue their favorite hobby or activity.

It’s a Sign! is available now wherever books are sold. Published by our friends at @disneybooks. Recommended for ages 6 to 8 and up. #itsasignbook @wjpumphrey @jpumphrey #partner

Yes We Will: Asian-Americans Who Shaped This Country

Meet 18 Asian Americans changemakers who dared to dream and persevered to achieve their goals.

The book features brief one-line biographies with extended biographies and an author’s note in the back matter.

Featured changemakers:
Franklin Chang-Díaz
Lia Cirio
Tammy Duckworth
Jenny Han
Kamala Harris
H.E.R.
Fred Korematsu
Padma Lakshmi
Sunisa Lee
Jeremy Li
Yo-Yo Ma
Amanda Nguyen
Sandra Oh
I. M. Pei
Mamie Tape
Peter Tsai
Philip Vera Cruz
Vera Wang

Recommended for ages 4-8 and up. Temporary link in today’s stories to purchase or review.

SAVE this post for your next trip to your local indie bookstore or library or SHARE it with a friend.

Written by @kellyyanghk published by our friends at @penguinkids @penguinclassroom.

#aapiheritagemonth #asianamericanheritagemonth #aapimonth #yeswewill #yeswewillbook

Do you remember watching television on Saturdays when you were a kid?

For me, Saturday mornings were reserved for cartoons, but the afternoons was all about Kung Fu movies.

You know those movies where the actors’ mouth movements never seemed synched with the dubbed English voices? And the sound effects — that dramatic “whoosh, whoosh” sound you heard throughout the show.

Bruce Lee is undoubtedly one of the greatest of the Kung Fu stars of all-time.

Who Was Bruce Lee is recommended for ages 2-4 and up. Available tomorrow wherever books are sold.

@penguinkids #whowasbrucelee #aapiheritagemonth #aapiheritagemonth2022 #wheretheboardbooksare #boardbooks #boardbooksforkids

Are you starting to feel a return, however slow and partial, to “normal”?

SAVE this post for your next trip to your local indie bookstore or library or SHARE it with a friend.

Although the past two years have been grueling for many of us, the surprise is that many of people (myself included) have realized there are some things about quarantine life that are worth preserving. We’re questioning the very fundamentals of the “normal” we’d all come to unthinkingly accept — and realizing we don’t want to go back, not to that.

The pandemic also made me sit down and take inventory on the things that mattered to me most in life. A lot of the things on my list are priceless small joys that I look forward to each day like taking a hot shower and hugging my loved ones and friends.

Author-illustrator Sophie Blackall began writing and illustrating Things to Look Forward To at the height of the pandemic in 2020. In these pages, Sophie has gathered a collection of joys for all of us—reminders that every day the sun comes up and new babies are born. She includes suggestions that you bake muffins for a friend, or draw a face on an egg and put it in the fridge where it will smile at you each time you open the door. With wisdom, whimsy, and compassion, the 52 illustrated ideas in this book offer moments of uplift and serendipity for yourself and your loved ones.

This book serves as a message of hope and solace in hard times and of joyful anticipation at times of new beginnings—whether you're grieving a loss or starting a new chapter—and for all the days in between—Things to Look Forward to is full of gentle reminders of the objects, occasions, gestures, and ideas that warm our hearts.

Double tap if you look forward to large and small joys everyday.

The link to purchase or review is in today’s stories. #thingstolookforwardto @chroniclebooks @sophieblackall @chroniclekidsbooks #itsthesmallthings

COVER REVEAL: Stacey Abrams Lift Every Voice

I’m thrilled to reveal the cover for this forthcoming book in partnership with our friends at @leeandlow. Check out the synopsis from the publisher below.

How do we move our country forward? Stacey Abrams has an answer in this bright and stirring biography, perfect for discussions of voting rights and how people working together can make a difference.

Stacey Abrams is the daughter of two civil-rights activists. She loved going into the voting booth with her parents on Election Day, knowing that their voices mattered. She loved school, even when she was the only Black student in her gifted classes. She loved her classmates at Spelman College -- a historically Black institution -- and worked hard to see they received the fair treatment they deserved.

And today, she brings all those experiences to her role as politician, author, and voting-rights advocate, helping to ensure that every person has a say and every vote gets counted. Stacey Abrams: Lift Every Voice follows Stacey's life from her girlhood to the present, but it also portrays the ordinary people that Stacey fights for -- the beautiful and diverse America that shows up to stand with one another. Backmatter includes a timeline of changes in US voting-rights law from the Constitution through the present day, demonstrating both how far the country has come and how far we have to go. With its spirited text and vivid illustrations, Stacey Abrams: Lift Every Voice will inspire readers to take their own steps forward.

Publishes September 6, 2022. Recommended for ages 6-9 and up. @monicamikai #coverreveal #staceyabrams #leeandlowbooks