Our collection of picture books featuring Black and Indigenous people and People of Color (BIPOC) is available to the public. *Inclusion of a title in the collection DOES NOT EQUAL a recommendation.* Click here for more on book evaluation.
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Portrait of an Artist: Frida Kahlo
"Frida Kahlo was a Mexican painter and today is one of the world's favourite artists. As a child, she was badly affected by polio, and later suffered a terrible accident that left her disabled and in pain. Shortly after this accident, Kahlo took up painting, and through her surreal, symbolic self portraits described the pain she suffered, as well as the treatment of women, and her sadness at not being able to have a child. This book tells the story of Frida Kahlo's life through her own artworks, and shows how she came to create some of the most famous paintings in the world. Learn about her difficult childhood, her love affair with fellow painter Diego Rivera, and the lasting impact her surreal work had on the history of art in this book that brings her life to work." -- publisher
Ice Breaker
"In the 1930s, only white figure skaters were allowed in public ice rinks and to compete for gold medals, but Mabel Fairbanks wouldn't let that stop her. With skates two sizes too big and a heart full of dreams, Mabel beat the odds and broke down color barriers through sheer determination and athletic skill. Mabel became the first African-American woman to be inducted into the U.S. Figure Skating Hall of Fame." - publisher
Feed Your Mind
August Wilson (1945–2005) was a two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright who had a particular talent for capturing the authentic, everyday voice of black Americans. As a child, he read off soup cans and cereal boxes, and when his mother brought him to the library, his whole world opened up. After facing intense prejudice at school from both students and some teachers, August dropped out. However, he continued reading and educating himself independently. He felt that if he could read about it, then he could teach himself anything and accomplish anything. Like many of his plays, Feed Your Mind is told in two acts, revealing how Wilson grew up to be one of the most influential American playwrights. --from publisher
Grandpa stops a war
""Daddy always said it takes a man of peace to stop a war." Based on the true story of Paul Robeson's visit to the front lines of the Spanish Civil War, comes this recollection of his bravery and activism by his granddaughter, Susan Robeson, with her debut book. When Susan was a child her father and grandfather told her family stories over and over. Grandpa Paul was a great man, a singer with a deep and rumbling voice, a man of peace and principle who worried about the safety of the children and families living in countries at war. His songs were always full of emotion, and evoking the African-American spirituals of his own father's childhood, he was able to communicate even with people who didn't speak the same language. Though it was dangerous, Robeson went to Spain and traveled to the front lines of the war (in a Buick!). There, he asked the soldiers to set up speakers facing the fighters on both sides of the battlefield. And then he sang.... With gorgeous illustrations from the fine artist Rod Brown, When Grandpa Stops A War celebrates the activism and achievements of the great Paul Robeson, and shows readers the power of art in times of discord and war."--Provided by publisher
Barack Obama
When David asks his mother about the man on television, she tells him the story of Barack Obama, discussing his childhood in Hawaii and Indonesia, his parents' divorce, and his desire to help others.
Rock & roll highway
"Canadian guitarist and songwriter Robbie Robertson is known mainly for his central role in the musical group the Band. But how did he become one of Rolling Stone's top 100 guitarists of all time? Written by his son Sebastian, this is the story of a rock-and-roll legend's journey through music, beginning when he was taught to play guitar at nine years old on a Native American reservation"--Amazon.com
Frida Kahlo and her animalitos
"Chronicles Frida's life -- from her childhood to her rise as one of the world's most influential painters -- capturing the beauty and strength of Frida's creative spirit, which carried her through tragedy and triumph, and the animals that inspired her along the way." -- Book jacket
George Crum and the Saratoga chip
Growing up in the 1830s in Saratoga Springs, New York, isn't easy for George Crum. Picked on at school because of the colour of his skin, George escapes into his favorite pastimes--hunting and fishing. Soon George learns to cook too, and he lands a job as a chef at the fancy Moon's Lake House. George loves his work, except for the fussy customers, who are always complaining! One hot day George's patience boils over and he cooks up a potato dish so unique it changes his life forever. This spirited story of the invention of the potato chip is a testament to human ingenuity and a tasty slice of culinary history
My name is James Madison Hemings
Winter and Widener tell the story of James Madison Hemings's childhood at Monticello, and, in doing so, illuminate the many contradictions in Jefferson's life and legacy. Though Jefferson lived in a mansion, Hemings and his siblings lived in a single room. While Jefferson doted on his white grandchildren, he never showed affection to his enslaved children. Though he kept the Hemings boys from hard field labor instead sending them to work in the carpentry shop Jefferson nevertheless listed the children in his Farm Book along with the sheep, hogs, and other property. Here is a profound and moving account of one family's history, which is also America's history
Radiant child
Jean-Michel Basquiat and his unique, collage-style paintings rocked to fame in the 1980s as a cultural phenomenon unlike anything the art work had ever seen. But before that, he was a little boy who saw art everywhere: in poetry books and museums, in games and in the words that we speak, and in the pulsing energy of New York City. Now, award-winning illustrator Javaka Steptoe's vivid text and bold artwork echoing Basquiat's own introduce young readers to the powerful message and art doesn't always have to be neat or clean--and definitely not inside the lines--to be beautiful