Who is AUGUSTA BAKER? You Ought To Know

 

DIAL BOOKS
for YOUNG READERS

The title of this picture book serves well as a directive to all who read it: GO FORTH AND TELL, The Life of Augusta Baker, Librarian and Master Storyteller. I urge you to do both: Read this important biography and then go forth and tell others about the remarkable life of Augusta Baker. (For now,  just click on her name to learn something while waiting to get the book.) Written by Breanna J McDaniels, a history-making librarian of her own standing, and illustrated by April Harrison, award-winning artist who captures and expands visually on Baker's charismatic personality and power. 

This is both a biography and a virtual "how to" life model for ways to raise a literate, community-engaged adult. Living with her grandmother set the stage for their incredibly deep connection and offered inspiration for Baker's storytelling. "Lap time" is shown, but spot illustrations reveal that every experience, from mundane daily chores to intentional shared time, involved colorful and theatrical storytelling of a vast and varied nature. Throughout it all, Augusta greeted her grandmother's words with "eager ears" As a result, Augusta's own reading left her fascinated with words and stories, while hoping to claim storytelling as her own, using those skills to help others grow their own"eager ears". 

The account has Augusta taking that dream to college, discovering that she and her "lilting, tilting voice" belong in front of a crowd. That ranged from students in a classroom, to young groups at a library, and on to inspiring other adults to listen and connect. Her work as children's librarian allowed her to cull racist and hateful or simply incorrect  books from her shelves and fill them with books that celebrated uplifting stories and provided heroes, real and imagined. Among her young audiences were eventual stellar Black authors and storytellers. Her storytelling and literary guidance fillied their minds and hearts with stories that threw open possibilities not encountered in daily life.

As the cover art suggests, Baker's impact embraced the entire city and beyond. Her role in New York's Public Library earned her the nickname Mistress of Storytelling. She has been honored with awards, festivals, and the support of countless literary stars. Throughout her life, including her leadership of educators and librarians, Baker stressed that the human elements of oral storytelling animated literature with magic: voice, expression, gesture. When those skills are effective, listeners lean in with "eager ears".  Back matter includes a very personal author note, quotation citations, a timeline, and captioned photos. Together with the main text account, this is a comprehensive and glowing  introduction to a remarkable woman everyone should know.

SIBLINGS: ME AND THE BOSS!

 

Anne Schwartz Books, 2022

The subtitle for this very special picture book is: A STORY ABOUT MENDING AND LOVE. I have three other siblings and, at this stage of life, my sense of those relationships is one of gratitude, not worry or concern. Even so, thoughts of childhood flood with memories that we got along and loved each other, but there were plenty of days which might have deserved some mending. But there I go, reading that subtitle with my adult mind, assuming the meaning related to resolving a disagreement or some relationship trouble. Kids though, are literal critters, and they will understand immediately the very big and deep story behind the looks on the faces of these characters, on the cover and on the interior spreads.

ME AND THE BOSS: A Story About Mending and Love is written by Michelle Edwards and illustrated by April Harrison. The first seemingly simple lines target the heart of this story with the following words:

"I know big sisters. Zora, the Boss, is mine. 

I go wherever she goes and we are always home before dark. 

Those are the rules."

This is a likely-familiar scenario within many families, while each reader's take on it will be deeply refracted by their own relationships within a family cluster. Even the singleton child who always longed for siblings might ache for such an imagined older or younger "appendage", someone who might halve the worries and cautions of daily life.

Now read only that second sentence: "Zora, the Boss, is mine." 

Without the surrounding words, six-year-old Lee's first person voice states the foundation of his world, even within their loving, stable circle of caring and present parents. From waking to dusk, Lee belongs to Zora and is safe with her. His careful observations and gentle smile are not erased by her stern demeanor. She takes him into the world, insists he be allowed to participate, even with a needle and thread that could prick his fingers. She fibs about his age to assure he can take part. And he knows she does.

He does not shed tears. He does not give up. He watches, learns, and admires the Boss. He trusts her to be "mine". She will get them home before dark, heads down, and he will feel safer slipping his hand into hers, which she grips tightly.

This launches us into Lee's world and softens our view of his stern-faced sister. He is not a quitter. Lee is as stingy with words as his sister is. If Zora believes in him he can believe in himself. His overnight wakefulness provides time to practice, to calm his too-quick fingers on the needle, and accomplish his plans. He expands his sense of independence, achieves a goal for himself, then extends his newfound skill to offer a silent surprise to his sister. 

Much effort is currently being made in the publishing world to elevate and promulgate author and illustrator voices that share stories and images from previously underrepresented cultures and identities. Within that, the shift is on to share "Black Joy", as I've written about HERE, HERE, and HERE. It will take many such titles to provide celebrations of contemporary relationships, interests, and experiences that begin to balance the prior focus on stories of suffering and slavery and pain. Those historic stories are essential, but mirrors of daily life and lively engagements, like this one, need to be readily available and welcomed into the canon of children's literature. In this case the sibling roles within family, neighborhood, and community are not only contemporary but reminiscent of generations of families of every color. This, then, is a welcome version of the century of stories sharing such experiences in which the people on the page are white. conventional (exclusionary) policies claimed that "others" who read/view it will "see" themselves in it. Here, the same can be said for those who are not Black. These characters, this story, could belong to anyone. As illustrated by the powerful images of April Harrison, the family members are not mere darker-skinned generic people. They embody and project an undeniably rooted Black family and relationships, people I want to know. The dignity, strength, and synergy within this family are undeniable and enviable. They don't need for me to know them,  but they deserve to be known.

Examine those faces closely. Pay attention to every word, within the full story flow and also as single statements. Project their lives forward. Zora is not "forever" Boss, only to remain so as they age. Her demands of Lee and her defense of him are building within him a brother who will, one day in the future, separate himself from her Boss role and become the brother she loves and needs as there are now, side by side, equal sibling adults.

Shirley Chisholm Dared: A Biography Worth the Wait

  Recent years have seen shifts on publishing for children, including picture books. There has been a steady (though not yet strong enough) shift to stories of people from non-dominant American culture (AKA, White, mainstream, traditional). Among those, many are shining lights on powerful but rarely told stories. They are both overdue and appreciated. Some, though, are offering accessible and inspiring profiles of folks who were quite prominent during their lives, although their stories seldom landed in picture books. Too often, the reasons given for that suggested that the "market" for the stories was too narrow and sales would be minimal.

Baloney!

Anne Schwartz Books, 2021

Many outstanding leaders from the past are getting new coverage. Better late than never, I say. 

In this case, this picture book biography of Shirley Chisholm is seriously overdue, but the eventual product is well worth the wait. SHIRLEY CHISHOLM DARED: The Story of the First Black Congresswoman is written by Alicia D. Williams and illustrated by April Harrison. This is not the first picture book about Chisholm, but it is delightfully  personal and powerful and  kid-friendly. 

Opening in her brief early days in New York City, we quickly follow little Shirely to an extended stay with her maternal grandmother in Barbados. The recurring  descriptors Williams uses become evident immediately:

Daring. Rebellious. Persistent. Troublemaker.

That should catch your attention, right? The selected examples of these traits, in text and images, allow readers to smile along, sit a bit taller, and develop their admiration for this  little-girl-eventual-congresswoman.She saw herself as having a voice and a place and a role in her community and in the world at large. The sideways glances to outright objections of others made no difference to her. It's not surprising (and is very well presented on the page) that her youthful peers, authority figures, adult peers, and competitors for office were sometimes stunned by her intentions and actions and expressed that opinion openly. 

I can't help but imagine her thinking that the surest way to get her to accomplish something was to tell her she shouldn't. Or couldn't.

Shirley was a champion for justice, using her voice and platform on behalf of everyday people and the country she loved. Her voice still rings in my memory. If it is unknown to you, click this YOU TUBE link to learn more about her story, and hear that amazing voice. It is an eighteen minute segment, but if you don't have enough time, scroll through to find her speaking. In fact, I hope you will watch it all. 

This is a very welcome picture book biography that will continue to share her legacy with young readers long into the future.

SHIRLEY CHISHOLM DARED: A Biography Worth the Wait

 Recent years have seen shifts on publishing for children, including picture books. There has been a steady (though not yet strong enough) shift to stories of people from non-dominant American culture (AKA, White, mainstream, traditional). Among those, many are shining lights on powerful but rarely told stories. They are both overdue and appreciated. Some, though, are offering accessible and inspiring profiles of folks who were quite prominent during their lives, although their stories seldom landed in picture books. Too often, the reasons given for that suggested that the "market" for the stories was too narrow and sales would be minimal.

Baloney!

Anne Schwartz Books, 2021

Many outstanding leaders from the past are getting new coverage. Better late than never, I say. 

In this case, this picture book biography of Shirley Chisholm is seriously overdue, but the eventual product is well worth the wait. SHIRLEY CHISHOLM DARED: The Story of the First Black Congresswoman is written by Alicia D. Williams and illustrated by April Harrison. This is not the first picture book about Chisholm, but it is delightfully  personal and powerful and  kid-friendly. 

Opening in her brief early days in New York City, we quickly follow little Shirely to an extended stay with her maternal grandmother in Barbados. The recurring  descriptors Williams uses become evident immediately:

Daring. Rebellious. Persistent. Troublemaker.

That should catch your attention, right? The selected examples of these traits, in text and images, allow readers to smile along, sit a bit taller, and develop their admiration for this  little-girl-eventual-congresswoman.She saw herself as having a voice and a place and a role in her community and in the world at large. The sideways glances to outright objections of others made no difference to her. It's not surprising (and is very well presented on the page) that her youthful peers, authority figures, adult peers, and competitors for office were sometimes stunned by her intentions and actions and expressed that opinion openly. 

I can't help but imagine her thinking that the surest way to get her to accomplish something was to tell her she shouldn't. Or couldn't.

Shirley was a champion for justice, using her voice and platform on behalf of everyday people and the country she loved. Her voice still rings in my memory. If it is unknown to you, click this YOU TUBE link to learn more about her story, and hear that amazing voice. It is an eighteen minute segment, but if you don't have enough time, scroll through to find her speaking. In fact, I hope you will watch it all. 

This is very welcome picture book biography that will continue to share her legacy with young readers long into the future.